After enjoying four consecutive weeks of gains, the Nigerian equities market slipped into negative territory last week, as investors reassessed their portfolios in response to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) latest monetary policy decision.
The NGX All-Share Index (ASI) fell by 0.62% week-on-week to close at 109,028.62 points, driven largely by profit-taking in the banking and energy sectors. The sell-offs reflect a wave of portfolio rebalancing following the CBN’s decision to maintain all policy parameters at its 300th Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting.
Market Capitalisation Dips
The overall market capitalisation declined by 0.29%, closing at N68.75 trillion. While this drop was partially due to the prevailing bearish sentiment, it was further deepened by the admission of 34.2 billion ordinary shares from United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc’s Rights Issue. This expansion of the market float triggered a notional loss of approximately N201.4 billion in investor wealth.
As a result, the year-to-date (YTD) return on the NGX ASI moderated to 5.93%, even as market breadth remained relatively positive, with 52 gainers surpassing 41 losers.
Robust Trading Activity
Despite the dip in headline performance, trading activity remained strong. Weekly transaction volume surged by 50.8% to 3.92 billion units, executed across 105,012 deals—a 35.7% increase in deal count from the previous week. The total value of trades also climbed 17.2% to N74.61 billion, underscoring sustained investor interest in Nigerian equities despite short-term volatility.
Sectoral Performance Mixed
Performance across key sectors was mixed. The NGX Consumer Goods Index led the gainers, rising by 2.18% on renewed buying interest in blue-chip stocks such as Nestlé Nigeria, Tantalizers, Guinness Nigeria, and Ikeja Hotel.
The NGX Insurance Index and NGX Industrial Goods Index also posted modest gains of 0.73% and 0.72%, respectively, driven by positive sentiment in counters like CUTIX, Custodian Investment, Regal Insurance, Tripple Gee, Beta Glass, and Linkage Assurance.
Conversely, the NGX Oil & Gas Index recorded the steepest decline, shedding 3.44%, followed by the NGX Banking Index, which dropped by 1.52%, and the NGX Commodity Index, down 0.75%. These losses were largely attributed to price declines in key stocks such as Fidelity Bank, Aradel Holdings, AccessCorp, Oando, Wema Bank, and Zenith Bank.
Top Gainers and Losers
Among the week’s top performers, Regal Insurance led with an 18.2% gain, followed by Linkage Assurance (+17.6%), Tantalizers (+17.4%), E-Tranzact (+15.3%), and Tripple Gee (+15.0%).
On the flip side, the worst-performing stocks included Chellarams (-10.0%), Caverton Offshore (-9.5%), Legend Intercontinental (-9.5%), Learn Africa (-8.9%), and The Initiates Plc (TIP), which fell by 8.8%.
Outlook for the Week Ahead
Looking ahead, market sentiment is expected to remain cautiously optimistic. The imminent release of Nigeria’s Q1 2025 GDP figures is likely to influence investor sentiment—particularly if the data confirms expectations of economic growth.
Additionally, the ongoing corporate earnings season could trigger stock-specific rallies, offering new opportunities for discerning investors. Analysts at Cowry Research maintain a broadly constructive outlook, advising investors to focus on fundamentally strong companies with resilient earnings and the capacity to withstand macroeconomic challenges.
