Stock market dips 0.52% in holiday-shortened trading week

In a shortened holiday trading week, Nigeria's equities market fell by 0.52%, as profit-taking across key sectors pressured major indices, according to Jide Ajia. The Central Bank of Nigeria's substantial interest rate reduction, by 350 basis points to 23%, alongside cooling headline inflation at 15.39%, triggered portfolio adjustments across fixed income and equity instruments.

Despite heavy trading in financial stocks and sovereign debt, overall market breadth closed negatively, with 37 equities declining for every 44 that gained value and 65 remaining unchanged. The NGX All-Share Index and market capitalization both declined by 0.52% and 0.50%, respectively, closing at 250,808.27 and N162.843tn. Sector performances were largely bearish, with the NGX CG, NGX Premium, NGX Banking, and NGX Consumer Goods indices experiencing declines of 1.43%, 1.38%, 1.33%, and 0.91%, respectively.

The NGX Growth Index saw a modest rise of 1.85%, while the NGX Insurance Index increased by 0.61%. Volumes contracted significantly, with 3.166 billion shares traded worth N155.023bn in 206,662 deals, down from 4.689 billion shares valued at N240.824bn in 261,198 deals the previous week.