The Nigerian stock market ended last week on a bearish note as the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) recorded a ₦439 billion loss in market capitalisation, with profit-taking and cautious investor sentiment weighing on performance.
At the close of trading for the week ended Friday, August 30, 2025, the All-Share Index slipped by 0.50%, settling at 140,295.50 points, down from 141,002.76 points in the previous week. Similarly, the total market capitalisation declined to ₦88.769 trillion, a 0.49% drop from ₦89.208 trillion recorded the week before.
Trading Activity Slows
Data from the weekly market report showed a dip in investor activity across board. A total of 3.199 billion shares valued at ₦85.399 billion were traded in 142,477 deals, representing a decline from 4.773 billion shares worth ₦107.426 billion exchanged in 152,965 deals during the prior week.
Once again, the Financial Services sector topped the activity chart, accounting for 2.195 billion shares worth ₦42.689 billion in 66,808 deals. This represents 68.61% of the total trading volume and nearly 50% of the total value. The Consumer Goods sector followed with 277.88 million shares valued at ₦9.91 billion, while the Services sector placed third, contributing 178.99 million shares worth ₦1.31 billion.
FCMB, Champion Breweries, Access Holdings Dominate Trades
The trio of FCMB Group Plc, Champion Breweries Plc, and Access Holdings Plc emerged as the most traded stocks by volume, jointly accounting for 778.60 million shares valued at ₦13.15 billion across 11,288 deals. Combined, they contributed 24.34% of total traded volume and 15.40% of total value for the week.
Gainers & Losers
Despite the overall downtrend, 32 stocks posted gains, though that was lower than the 43 recorded the week before. Meanwhile, 57 equities declined in price, up from 54 in the previous week, and 57 stocks remained unchanged, compared to 49 earlier.
Top Gainers:
- McNichols Plc led with an 18.75% gain, rising from ₦3.20 to ₦3.80.
- NEM Insurance Plc gained 17.29%, closing at ₦31.20 from ₦26.60.
- Berger Paints Plc advanced by 15.31%, ending the week at ₦36.90.
- Coronation Insurance Plc added 12.77%, climbing to ₦3.62.
- Learn Africa Plc, NCR Nigeria Plc, SFS REIT, Julius Berger Plc, SCOA Nigeria Plc, and Beta Glass Plc also made it to the top 10 list of advancers.
Top Losers:
- Secure Electronic Technology Plc posted the steepest decline, losing 22.73% to close at ₦0.85.
- Guinea Insurance Plc followed with a 19.77% drop, ending at ₦1.42.
- Lasaco Assurance Plc, University Press Plc, and Mutual Benefits Assurance Plc also saw significant price cuts.
- Other major losers included Royal Exchange Plc, Cornerstone Insurance Plc, John Holt Plc, DAAR Communications Plc, and Associated Bus Company Plc.
ETFs, Bonds & New Listings
The Exchange Traded Products (ETP) segment saw 202,506 units worth ₦23.78 million traded in 390 deals, lower than the 396,920 units valued at ₦39.03 million traded the previous week.
In the bond market, 80,523 units worth ₦74.05 million exchanged hands in 32 deals, compared to 58,537 units valued at ₦58.77 million in 26 deals the week before.
Several new listings were also recorded:
- Chapel Hill Denham’s Nigeria Infrastructure Debt Fund added 270,382 units following its Q2 2025 scrip dividend.
- Coronation Asset Management listed 87.9 million units of its Series 1 Infrastructure Fund (₦100 per unit), part of a ₦200 billion programme.
- Industrial & Medical Gases Nigeria Plc began trading 199.8 million ordinary shares from its ongoing rights issue, priced at ₦32 per share and set to close on October 2, 2025.
- The NGX also listed additional units of FGN bonds, increasing the 19.30% FGN April 2029 bond and 19.89% FGN May 2033 bond by 4.7 million and nearly 296 million units, respectively.
