The Nigerian equities market closed the first trading week of December on a mildly negative note, with the NGX All-Share Index dipping 0.14% to settle at 143,520.53 points.
Market capitalisation followed suit, shedding ₦129 billion to close at ₦91.286 trillion from ₦91.415 trillion the previous Friday.
The modest weekly loss reflected continued profit-taking in large and mid-cap names after November’s heavy sell-off, although the number of declining stocks eased sharply from 60 to 36, signalling a slowdown in bearish momentum.
Activity surged compared to the prior week. Total turnover jumped to 4.14 billion shares valued at ₦115.89 billion traded across 102,351 deals, up from 2.67 billion shares worth ₦106.26 billion.
The Financial Services sector dominated proceedings, accounting for 81.1% of volume and 70.1% of value with 3.36 billion shares worth ₦81.18 billion. Services and Consumer Goods ranked second and third respectively.
Three heavyweights — Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO), Access Holdings, and Cornerstone Insurance — alone contributed 48.4% of total weekly volume and 41% of turnover value.
On the performance leaderboard, 38 stocks posted gains (up from only 20 the previous week), while 73 remained flat.
Top performers included:
– Ikeja Hotel +9.40
– NCR Nigeria +13.55
– UACN +8.90
– CWG +1.90
– Veritas Kapital +0.18
Most sectoral indices ended lower, but pockets of resilience were seen in defensive and dividend-yield plays. NGX Consumer Goods, Premium, Banking, Pension, AFR Bank Value, MERI Growth, MERI Value, and Lotus Islamic indices all posted marginal gains ranging from 0.01% to 0.94%.
Market breadth, while still slightly negative, improved markedly from the prior week, offering early signs that selling pressure may be abating ahead of the traditional year-end rally season. Analysts will be watching whether sustained financial-sector volume and selective buying in quality names can drive a rebound when trading resumes on Monday.
