Equities investors retained a cautious approach on the Nigerian stock market last week with risk-off sentiments remaining dominant.
Market analysts attributed the mode to factors including the ongoing global trade tensions and decline in oil prices said to have sparked selling activity on the bourse.
At the close of trading on Friday, April 11, 2025, the NGX All-Share Index declined by 0.90% week-to-week, closing at 104,563.34points, reflecting sustained bearish sentiment over the week.
Similarly, the market capitalization depreciated by 0.67% to close the week at N65.707 trillion, translating to investors loss of N440.51 billion w/w, indicating broad-based investor profit-taking and sectoral pullbacks despite intermittent rebounds during the week.
A total of 2.094 billion shares worth N52.967 billion in 64,612 deals was traded during the week under review by investors on the floor of the Exchange, in contrast to a total of 1.183 billion shares valued at N28.868 billion that exchanged hands last week in 42,397 deals.
The Financial Services (measured by volume) led the activity chart with 1.539 billion shares valued at N36.353 billion traded in 36,013 deals; thus contributing 73.49% and 68.63% to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
The Agriculture industry followed with 98.884 million shares worth N 1.344 billion in 2,772 deals. Third place was the Services Industry, with a turnover of 93.000 million shares worth N522.147 million in 3,012 deals.
Trading in the top three equities namely Access Holdings Plc, Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc and Zenith Bank Plc (measured by volume) accounted for 629.327 million shares worth N25.820 billion in 12,742 deals, contributing 30.06% and 48.75% to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
Despite an uptick in select high cap stocks, broader market sentiment remained weak, with an Advancers/Decliners ratio of 0.28 and a UD (Up/Down) ratio of 1.32, signaling narrow leadership in a largely bearish breadth.
Twenty-seven (27) equities appreciated in price during the week, higher than twenty-three (23) equities in the previous week. Fifty-six (56) equities depreciated in price, higher than fifty-one (51) in the previous week, while sixty-four (64) equities remained unchanged, lower than seventy-three (73) recorded in the previous week.
Listing
During the week under review, First HoldCo Plc listed additional 5,982,548,799 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each at N25.00 per share on the Daily Official List of Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX).
According to the NGX weekly report, the additional shares listed on NGX arose from First HolCo Plc Rights Issue of 5,982,548,799 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each at N25.00 per share (The offer was 125.46% subscribed).
With the listing of the additional 5,982,548,799 ordinary shares, the total issued and fully paid-up shares of First HoldCo Plc has now increased from 35,895,292,792 to 41,877,841,591 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each.
In another development the March 2025 Issue of the Federal Government of Nigeria Savings Bonds were listed on the NGX during the week.
NASD OTC
During the week under review the NASD OTC Securities Exchange experienced a significant spike in trading activity, with volume and value soaring by 740.75% and 2,268.85% respectively. This sharp increase in transactions suggests heightened investor repositioning or offloading activity amid bearish sentiment, as the NSI declined by 0.31%, wiping N6.0 billion off market capitalisation.
The session was marked by a fully negative breadth, with no gainers recorded. Key decliners included SDACORN (-10.00%) and SDFCWAMCO (-7.66%), reflecting persistent downward pressure on select large-cap OTC stocks and signaling weak investor confidence in the short term.
The secondary market for FGN bonds closed slightly negative, with the average yield inching up to 18.86% amid cautious sentiment ahead of the second quarter 2025 debt supply.
Activity remained muted as sell-side pressure dominated the short-to-mid segments, particularly on the APR 2029, FEB 2031, and MAY 2033 maturities. The long end also came under pressure, with the JUN 2053 bond yield spiking by 31 basis points.
Across the benchmark curve, yields expanded at the short (+1bp) and long (+4bps) ends, while the mid-segment closed flat. The upward shift at the short end was mainly driven by modest selloffs on the APR 2029 paper. Despite some movement in select bonds, overall market activity stayed subdued as investors treaded cautiously in anticipation of fresh policy signals and liquidity dynamics.
Analysts from TrustBanc Financial Group noted that traders are taking a defensive stance amid expectations of heavy borrowing in Q2, as government spending plans widen.
In a separate update, CardinalStone Limited observed that March marked a reversal from the yield decline seen in January and February, with average yields climbing 7bps across fixed-income instruments.
This reversal was driven by tighter system liquidity and adjustments to the Nigerian Treasury Bills auction calendar.
The Debt Management Office increased its March borrowing to N2.82 trillion—significantly above the earlier plan of N1.90 trillion—signalling elevated financing needs. CardinalStone added that the hike in stop rates and borrowing volumes may have been intended to retain foreign portfolio inflows, which have softened amid global risk aversion and oil price volatility.
Analysts warn that the DMO’s more aggressive issuance stance, coupled with the upward revision of the Federal Government’s 2025 spending fromN49.7 trillion to N54.9 trillion, suggests that fiscal pressures may weigh further on the fixed income market in the months ahead.
