Easter Holiday Slows Trading on NGX as Investors Lose N9.96bn

The Nigerian Exchange Ltd. (NGX) witnessed a downturn in trading activity this week, largely influenced by the Easter holidays which shortened the trading week to four days. Investors traded a total of 1.525 billion shares valued at N43.006 billion across 51,156 transactions.

This represents a significant decrease compared to the previous week's performance, where 2.094 billion shares worth N52.967 billion exchanged hands in 64,612 deals. Consequently, the total value of transactions on the NGX floor declined by 23.15 per cent, resulting in a collective loss of N9.961 billion for investors. The Federal Government's declaration of Friday, April 18th, and Monday, April 21st, as public holidays to commemorate the 2025 Easter celebration directly impacted the trading volume and value.

Analysis of the trading activity revealed that the top three most active stocks were Access Holdings Plc, Fidelity Bank Plc, and Universal Insurance Plc. Together, these equities accounted for a substantial 448.105 million shares valued at N6.730 billion, executed in 6,481 deals. This contribution represented 29.39 per cent of the total equity turnover volume and 15.65 per cent of the total equity turnover value for the week.

The Financial Services sector continued its dominance on the NGX, leading the activity chart with a turnover of 1.122 billion shares valued at N24.015 billion, traded in 28,818 deals. This sector alone contributed a significant 73.56 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and 55.84 per cent to the total equity turnover value.

Following behind were the ICT industry, with 101.252 million shares worth N4.819 billion traded in 2,541 transactions, and the Services Industry, which recorded a turnover of 99.776 million shares valued at N1.230 billion in 3,063 transactions.

The overall market sentiment reflected a slight bearish trend as the NGX All-Share Index (ASI) and market capitalization both depreciated by 0.32 per cent to close the week at 104,233.81 points and N65.499 trillion, respectively. This downward trend was mirrored across most sector-specific indices. However, a few indices bucked the trend, recording gains. 

These included the NGX Premium, NGX Pension, NGX MERI Growth, NGX Consumer Goods, NGX Oil & Gas, NGX Lotus II, NGX Growth, NGX Sovereign Bond, and NGX Pension Broad Indices, which all saw varying degrees of appreciation. Conversely, the NGX ASeM and NGX Commodity indices remained unchanged.

Market breadth analysis showed a slightly positive picture with 31 equities appreciating in price, up from 27 in the previous week. Meanwhile, 44 equities experienced price declines, a decrease from the 56 recorded in the preceding week. The number of equities that remained unchanged increased to 72 from 64.

The top five worst-performing stocks for the week were Guaranty Trust Holding Company (losing N9), Zenith Bank (losing N5.95), DAAR Communications (losing 7k), Caverton Offshore Support Group (losing 27k), and RT Briscoe (losing 22k). On the positive side, the top five gainers were ABBEY Mortgage Bank (gaining 46.17% or N2.83), Nigerian Breweries (gaining 13.13% or N4.20), Associated Bus Company (gaining 12.70% or 16k), Livestock Feeds (gaining 11.24% or 96k), and Unilever Nigeria (gaining 9.65% or N3.35).