The Nigerian Exchange closed the week on a bearish note as the market lost N197bn in capitalisation, driven by weak investor sentiment and profit-taking across major counters.
The All-Share Index declined by 0.62 per cent to close at 109,028.62 points, while the market capitalisation dropped by 0.29 per cent to N68.752trn from N68.949trn in the previous week. This marks a continuation of the negative trend, despite increased trading activity across key sectors.
A total turnover of 3.932bn shares worth N74.813bn in 105,220 deals was recorded on the floor of the Exchange, reflecting a significant increase from the 2.606bn shares valued at N63.785bn traded in 77,593 deals the week before.
The financial services sector maintained its dominance, leading the activity chart with 2.405 billion shares valued at N32.271bn traded in 44,570 deals. This contributed 61.16 per cent and 43.14 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value, respectively.
Following closely, the services industry recorded a turnover of 442.995m shares worth N4.201bn in 7,523 deals, while the consumer goods sector saw 283.157m shares valued at N12.678bn exchanged in 15,675 deals.
Three equities, Royal Exchange Plc, Fidelity Bank Plc, and Tantalizer Plc stood out during the week, accounting for 1.610 billion shares worth N8.897bn in 8,079 deals. These represented 40.95 per cent and 11.89 per cent of the total volume and value of equity turnover, respectively.
On the fixed-income side, a total of 109,953 units valued at N52.587m were traded in 164 deals, lower in volume but higher in value compared to 138,668 units worth N26.703m in 148 deals recorded in the previous week.
Similarly, the Exchange Traded Products segment posted a total of 21,285 units valued at N21.418m traded in 34 deals, a significant drop from 121,749 units valued at N118.695m recorded in 56 deals the prior week.
Despite the overall market decline, some indices managed to post gains. The Insurance Index rose by 0.73 per cent, the AFR Dividend Yield by 0.11 per cent, the Consumer Goods Index by 2.18 per cent, and the Industrial Goods Index by 0.72 per cent.
Other indices ended the week in the red, while the ASeM Index closed flat.
In terms of market breadth, 52 equities appreciated in price during the week, a drop from 61 in the previous week. On the flip side, 41 equities recorded losses, higher than the 31 losers in the preceding week. 55 equities remained unchanged, slightly below the 56 recorded earlier.
Top gainers of the week included Cutix Plc, which gained ₦0.57 to close at ₦3.17, representing a 21.92 per cent increase; Custodian Investment Plc rose by ₦3.85 to ₦21.80, up by 21.45 per cent; Red Star Express Plc added ₦1.16 to close at ₦6.71, gaining 20.90 per cent; John Holt Plc appreciated by ₦1.30 to ₦7.60, up by 20.63 per cent; while Eunisell Interlinked Plc advanced by ₦2.20 to ₦12.95, reflecting a 20.47 per cent increase.
On the losers’ chart, Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals Plc shed N0.63 to close at N3.07, down by 17.03 per cent; Associated Bus Company Plc declined by N0.46 to N2.49, dropping 15.59 per cent; Transcorp Hotels Plc lost N24.50 to close at N138.50, down by 15.03 per cent; NPF Microfinance Bank Plc dipped by N0.33 to N2.25, down 12.79 per cent; and FTN Cocoa Processors Plc decreased by N0.31 to N2.28, a loss of 11.97 per cent.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Exchange also announced two major listings during the week. Chapel Hill Denham Nigeria Infrastructure Debt Fund listed an additional 229,316 units arising from its 2025 first quarter scrip dividend. With this, the total units of the fund rose from 1,055,514,831 to 1,055,744,147 units.
Also, United Bank for Africa Plc listed an additional 6.839 billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each at N35.00 per share on the Daily Official List. The shares were issued via a rights issue on the basis of one new ordinary share for every five held as of November 5, 2024. This listing increased the bank’s total issued shares from 34.199 billion to 41.039 billion.
The PUNCH reported that the Nigerian equities market recorded a positive performance last week as investors gained N614bn, with the Nigerian Exchange All-Share Index rising by 0.90 per cent to close at 109,710.37 basis points, while the market capitalisation settled at N68.953tn.
