September 01, (THEWILL) — The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) equity market closed on a bearish note for the week ended August 29, 2025, amid mixed investor sentiments.
Data from the NGX weekly report showed that equity turnover dropped by 32 percent to N3.19 billion shares valued at N85.40 billion in 142,477 deals during the past week, in contrast to 4.77 billion shares worth N107.43 billion in 152,965 deals recorded in the previous week.
Despite the drop in turnover, the Financial Services Industry maintained its dominance on the activity chart. The sector accounted for the largest share of the total equity turnover with 2.19 billion shares valued at N42.68 billion in 66,808 deals.
Although this was a decline from the previous week’s 3.73 billion shares worth N60.63 billion in 72,977 deals, the sector’s market dominance stems from the high liquidity in the banking sector driven by the ongoing banking recapitalisation programme.
Industry experts stress that the prevailing macroeconomic variables which tilt towards foreign exchange market stability would continue to serve as a buffer to the sector as fortune hunters seek safe havens for their assets amid the uncertainty that an oil-dependent economy faces.
In contrast to the decline in the equity market, the bond market moved in the opposite direction. Investors traded 80,523 units valued at N74.045 million in 32 deals, a notable increase from 58,537 units worth N58.77 million in 26 deals in the preceding week.
This suggests that investors may be tilting towards fixed-income instruments, reflecting a cautious optimism in the equities space.
The NGX All-Share Index (ASI) dropped by 0.50 percent to close at 140,295.50 points, while market capitalization fell by 0.49 percent closing at N88.76 trillion compared with N141,004.14 points and N89.20 respectively in the preceding week.
Broadly, all sectoral indices ended the week lower except the NGX AFR Dividend Yield Index, which gained 0.94 percent, reflecting investor interest in dividend-paying stocks. The NGX ASeM Index closed flat.
With inflation rate on the downward trend (21.88 percent in July 2025, from 22.22 percent in the preceding month) and the recent foreign exchange market convergence of the official and parallel markets at N1532/US$1 range, the shifts between the fixed income and equity markets are likely to be much predictable than in the previous times.
***Written by Ogochukwu Onwaeze.
