Nigerian equities market recorded a marginal recovery on Wednesday, as gains in select heavyweight stocks lifted the benchmark NGX All-Share Index by 0.02 per cent to 254,289.35 points, despite continued selling pressure across a larger number of stocks.
The modest appreciation increased the market’s year-to-date return to 63.41 per cent, while market capitalisation rose by N28.66 billion to close at N165.11 trillion.
However, the positive index performance masked weak underlying market sentiment, as declining stocks significantly outnumbered gainers, reflecting investors’ cautious positioning and sustained profit-taking in several equities.
Market breadth closed negative at 0.6x, with 32 stocks recording losses against 19 advancers. Fortis Global Insurance, Vitafoam and UPDCREIT led the decliners, indicating that the marginal market recovery was concentrated in selected stocks rather than broad-based buying interest.
Sectoral performance was mixed, with four of the six sectoral indices closing in positive territory.
The Commodities index led the gainers, appreciating by 0.22 per cent, followed by Consumer Goods, which advanced 0.18 per cent.
The Banking index gained 0.03 per cent, while Oil and Gas edged up 0.02 per cent. In contrast, the Insurance index declined by 1.15 per cent, emerging as the worst-performing sector, while the Industrial index closed unchanged.
Trading activity presented a mixed picture, with the value and number of transactions declining despite a marginal increase in traded volume.
Market turnover fell by 52.38 per cent to ?22.61 billion, while the number of deals dropped by 27.65 per cent to 39,078 transactions. Volume, however, increased by 1.58 per cent, suggesting that the higher number of shares traded did not translate into stronger transaction value.
The combination of negative market breadth and declining turnover points to a market recovery that remains fragile, with investors yet to demonstrate broad-based conviction.
Analysts at Cowry noted that going forward, selective accumulation of fundamentally sound stocks could provide support for the market, although persistent selling pressure and weak investor sentiment may limit the scope for further gains in the near term.