Kayode  Tokede

The stock market section of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) dropped by N2.09 trillion week-on-week (WoW) amid investors profit-taking in Dangote Cement Plc (10 per cent decline)

As gathered by THISDAY, market capitalisation closed last week’s trading  activities at N91.415 trillion, about 2.23per cent or N2.09 trillion decline from N93.501 trillion it opened for trading.  

The benchmark, NGX All-Share Index declined by 2.24 per cent week-on- week to close at 143,722.62  basis points from 143,722.62 basis points the stock market oened for trading.  

Consequently, Month-till-Date (MtD) and Year-till-Date (YtD) return moderated to -6.8per cent and +39.6per cent, respectively.

The local bourse extended its bearish momentum into the fourth consecutive week, slipping below the 145,000 basis pints  threshold.

The softer inflation print – typically supportive of additional MPC easing – offered no relief, as sentiment remained decisively bearish

Market sentiment remained broadly negative, as reflected in the market breadth where 19 gainers were heavily overshadowed by 60 decliners.

NCR Nigeria led the gainers table by 60.55 per cent to close at N41.10, per share. University Press followed with a gain of 17.65 per cent to close at N6.00, while Tantalizers went up by 17.29 per cent to close to N2.51, per share.

On the other side, International Energy Insurance led the decliners table by 22.06 per cent to close at N2.12, per share. McNichols followed with a loss of 14.90 per cent to close at N2.57, while Veritas Kapital Assurance declined by 14.89 per cent to close at N1.60, per share.

Overall, a total turnover of 2.668 billion shares worth N106.264 billion in 107,998 deals was traded last week by investors on the floor of the Exchange, in contrast to a total of 7.325 billion shares valued at N156.425 billion that exchanged hands previous week in 134,383 deals.

The Nigerian stock market is anticipated to remain cautious this week, with analysts predicting a mix of selective bargain-hunting and persistent selling pressure.

Analysts at Cordros Research in a statement stated that, “Looking ahead, we expect trading to remain weak, with limited buying interest likely to keep the market under pressure.

“Nonetheless, market participants will also turn their attention to the outcome of next week’s MPC meeting, where we anticipate a 100bps policy rate cut as the Committee leans further into its easing cycle.”

On outlook for the new week, Afrinvest Limited said, “despite market expectations of a 25–50bps rate cut by the CBN’s Monetary Policy Committee at its final policy meeting of 2025 on Tuesday, we expect market sentiment to remain subdued this week likely culminating in a negative performance swing.”

Imperial Asset Managers noted that, “we anticipate the cautious and defensive tone to persist in the near term. The index is likely to remain under pressure due to the sustained profit-taking in major financial names.

“However, the strong institutional activity (high volume/value) in financials suggests that the market is currently undergoing a major re-pricing phase, which may eventually lead to a rebound once the sell-off exhausts itself.”

Cowry Asset Management Limited added that “looking ahead, the equities market is likely to maintain a cautious tone next week as portfolio rebalancing and end-of-year profit-taking continue to influence trading behaviour.

“Activity may remain subdued in the absence of a clear market catalyst, while sectoral performance could stay mixed given the competitive pull of elevated fixed-income yields.

“Nonetheless, selective bargain-hunting in oversold counters may spark brief periods of recovery, keeping the NGX on a sideways-to-slightly-bearish trajectory in the near term. Nevertheless, we continue to advice investors to take position in stocks with sound fundamentals,” they added.