NGX Weekly Index Drops 1.60% Amid Broad Sell-Offs

The Nigerian Exchange Limited closed the trading week on a bearish note, with the benchmark Nigerian Exchange All-Share Index declining by 1.60% to 243,052.74 points from 246,992.44 points at the week's start. Market capitalization contracted by 1.24% to N157.587 trillion.

Despite this week's downturn, the market remains up by 56.19% year-to-date. A total of eighty equities depreciated, while only nine recorded price appreciation, and fifty-eight stocks remained unchanged.

Analysts attribute the sell-off to profit-taking due to inflationary pressures, high debt-issuance yields, and corporate earnings recalibration in the banking and manufacturing sectors. Additionally, increased activity in primary capital issuances has diverted liquidity from secondary equity trading, leading to lighter trading volumes.

Total traded volume reached 3.647 billion shares valued at N130.151 billion across 244,777 deals, down from the previous week's 4.360 billion shares worth N210.331 billion. The Financial Services Industry dominated trading volume, accounting for nearly eighty percent of total equity turnover.