WED APRIL 16 2025-theGBJournal| Fresh turmoil in Nigerian stock market kept the pressure on equities Wednesday as sell pressures in GTCO (-1.5%) and ZENITHBANK (-0.4%) triggered a 0.7% decline in the All-Share index to 103,851.88 points.
The Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date returns settled at -1.7% and +0.9%, respectively while market capitalization dropped to N65.259 trillion.
The total trading volume fell by 4.6% to 351.66 million units, valued at N13.71 billion, and exchanged in 12,141 deals.
FIDELITYBK was the most traded stock by volume at 47.43 million units, while MTNN was the most traded stock by value at N2.74 billion.
Sectoral performance was mixed, as the Banking (-4.7%) and Oil & Gas (-0.1%) indices declined while the Insurance (+0.8%) and Consumer Goods (+0.3%) indices advanced. The Industrial Goods index closed flat.
As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was positive (1.3x), as 25 tickers gained relative to 20 losers.
NNFM (-10.0%) and CAVERTON (-9.1%) %) recorded the most significant losses of the day, while ABBEYBDS (+9.9%) and UNILEVER (+9.7%) topped the gainers list.
Meanwhile, the Naira fell back under pressure amid investor exit, falling 0.1% to N1,608.00 from N1,600 against the U.S dollar at NAFEM window due to intensified
foreign investor sell-offs driven by global risk-off sentiment, despite CBN’s $124 million FX intervention.
The CBN’s efforts to stabilize the naira by injecting liquidity into the interbank market were limited by dwindling external reserves and persistent USD demand, raising concerns about FX stability.
Nigeria’s net FX reserves, now at $23.3 billion (7.3 months of import cover), offer a buffer above IMF thresholds, while JP Morgan’s interest in Nigerian OMO instruments suggests retained investor appetite despite oil-linked risks.
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