Nigerian equities retreated on Wednesday as broad-based selling pushed the market lower, ending a short run of indecision and trimming year-to-date gains, even as trading activity picked up across several actively traded names.
The Nigerian Exchange All-Share Index fell 549.4 points, or 0.33 percent, to close at 165,164.4, down from 165,713.8 in the previous session. The decline left the benchmark struggling to maintain its grip on the 165,000 level, a psychological threshold the market has hovered around in recent days.
Market capitalization slipped to about N105.7 trillion from N106 trillion, reflecting weakness across a wide range of stocks. The pullback marked the index’s first clearly bearish session of the week after several days of stalling, reducing its year-to-date return to 6.14 percent from 6.49 percent.
Despite the softer close, trading activity improved. Total volume rose to 623 million shares, up from 483 million shares a day earlier, executed across 42,172 deals. The increase in turnover suggested heightened repositioning by investors, even as prices moved lower.
Gains were limited to a handful of stocks. UHOMREIT and DEAPCAP topped the gainers’ table, each rising by 9.97 percent. Other notable advancers included Tantalizers, which gained 9.92 percent, Skyway Aviation Handling Company, up 9.91 percent, and Morrison, which added 9.90 percent. The concentration of gains among smaller counters underscored the absence of broad market support.
On the losing side, selling pressure was most pronounced in RT Briscoe and May & Baker, which declined by 9.97 percent and 9.96 percent, respectively. Ikeja Hotel fell 9.92 percent, LivingTrust Mortgage Bank dropped 9.90 percent, and eTranzact shed 9.16 percent, rounding out the list of the day’s biggest decliners.
Activity by volume was led by Neimeth, which traded 58.1 million shares. CHAMS followed with 39.5 million shares, while Access Holdings recorded 33.3 million shares. Zenith Bank and Tantalizers completed the top five by volume, with trades of 32.4 million and 29.2 million shares, respectively.
By value, Zenith Bank dominated transactions, with trades worth N2.3 billion. Aradel followed closely at N2.2 billion, while GTCO recorded N2.1 billion in traded value. MTN Nigeria and Access Holdings rounded out the top five, with N1.5 billion and N757.4 million worth of shares exchanged.
Large-cap stocks, particularly those with outsized influence on the index, showed mixed to negative performances. Among SWOOTs, companies with market capitalisation above N1 trillion, sentiment tilted bearish. International Breweries fell 3.45 percent, while MTN Nigeria declined by 1.38 percent, weighing on the broader market.
The FUGAZ banking stocks also delivered uneven results. First HoldCo dropped 2.23 percent, and UBA slipped 0.78 percent. In contrast, GTCO gained 0.51 percent, Access Holdings rose 0.44 percent, and Zenith Bank edged up 0.14 percent, offering limited support to the index.
Market analysts described the session as an early pullback rather than a decisive reversal. The combination of higher trading volumes and falling prices points to cautious sentiment, as investors reassess positions after recent gains and await clearer signals from mid- and large-cap stocks.
The current weakness is widely viewed as a price retracement, common after sustained advances. Whether it deepens will depend on how quickly buying interest returns to heavyweight names, particularly as companies begin to release full-year 2025 earnings results. Strong corporate numbers could help restore momentum, while continued hesitation among institutional investors may leave the market vulnerable to further short-term declines.
For now, the Nigerian stock market appears caught between profit-taking and selective bargain hunting, with uneven sectoral performance defining the near-term outlook.