The Nigerian equities market experienced a decline in a shortened trading week, with market capitalisation falling by N207bn amid mixed investor sentiment driven by ongoing earnings releases and dividend declarations.

The Nigerian Exchange Limited operated for only four days during the week, as the Federal Government declared Friday, April 18, and Monday, April 21, 2025, as public holidays for the Easter celebration.

As a result, the NGX All-Share Index dropped by 0.32 per cent to close at 104,233.81 points. Market capitalisation also fell to N65.499tn from N65.706tn recorded the previous week.

Data from the NGX weekly report showed a total turnover of 1.525 billion shares worth N43.006bn in 51,156 deals, representing a decrease from the previous week’s 2.094 billion shares valued at N52.967bn in 64,612 deals.

The drop in figures reflects reduced market participation due to the shortened trading window.

Sectoral data revealed that the financial services industry remained the most active, accounting for 1.122 billion shares valued at N24.015bn across 28,818 deals representing 73.56 per cent of total volume and 55.84 per cent of total value.

The ICT sector followed with 101.252 million shares worth N4.819bn in 2,541 deals, while the services industry recorded 99.776 million shares worth N1.230bn in 3,063 deals.

Access Holdings Plc, Fidelity Bank Plc, and Universal Insurance Plc emerged as the top three equities by volume for the week, jointly accounting for 448.105 million shares worth N6.730bn across 6,481 deals.

Their combined performance represented 29.39 per cent of the total trading volume and 15.65 per cent of the market’s total value.

Market breadth was slightly upbeat, with 31 equities recording gains an improvement from 27 in the previous week.

Conversely, 44 equities posted losses, fewer than the 56 that declined in the prior week. Meanwhile, 72 equities closed unchanged, compared to 64 previously.

In the Exchange Traded Products (ETP) segment, investors transacted 19,814 units valued at N3.572m in 62 deals, showing a notable drop from the 111,693 units worth N6.115m recorded in 83 deals the week before.

The fixed income segment also saw reduced activity.

A total of 81,759 bond units valued at N84.283m were exchanged in 27 deals, compared to 144,487 units worth N151.615m traded in 100 deals the preceding week.

Despite the general decline in market performance, several sectoral indices closed in the green.

The Premium Index rose by 0.57 per cent, while the Pension Index gained 0.42 per cent.

The MERI Growth Index advanced 2.67 per cent, Consumer Goods rose by 2.33 per cent, Oil & Gas gained 0.20 per cent, Lotus II was up by 0.16 per cent, Growth Index added 0.26 per cent, Sovereign Bond climbed 0.39 per cent, and Pension Broad appreciated by 0.55 per cent. Both the ASeM and Commodity indices closed flat.

Meanwhile, trading commenced on Wema Bank Plc’s rights issue of 14.29 billion ordinary shares at 50 kobo each, priced at N10.45 per share.

The offer, based on two new shares for every three held as of the close of business on Wednesday, March 5, 2025, opened on Monday, April 14, 2025.

The equities market closed positively on Thursday, recovering from earlier losses during the holiday-shortened trading week, with investors gaining N239bn in market capitalisation.

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