The Nigerian equities market recorded a robust performance last week, with investors gaining N613 billion as positive sentiment drove trading activities ahead of the Central Bank of Nigeria's (CBN) crucial Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting.

Market Performance Highlights

The Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) closed the week on a strong note, with the all-share index (ASI) appreciating by 0.9 percent to 109,710.37 points. Market capitalization rose significantly by N613.99 billion to close at N68.95 trillion, pushing the year-to-date return on investment to 6.59 percent.

This positive momentum was fueled by strong Q1 2025 corporate earnings reports and easing inflation, which declined to 23.71 percent in April 2025—providing much-needed relief for businesses and consumers alike.

Sector Performance

The rally was broad-based with all sectoral indices recording gains:

- Consumer Goods: Led the gains with a 4.08 percent increase, driven by strong investor interest in Champion, NNFM, May & Baker Nigeria Plc, and Honeywell Flourmills Plc

- Insurance: Advanced by 2.47 percent

- Banking: Rose by 1.19 percent, reflecting continued strength in financial stocks

- Oil and Gas: Increased by 0.66 percent

- Industrial and Commodity: Posted modest gains of 0.13 percent and 0.14 percent respectively

Trading Activity

Despite the overall positive market sentiment, trading activity showed some restraint:

- Total volume of shares traded declined by 1.66 percent to 2.6 billion units

- Total value of trades dropped by 17.32 percent to N63.66 billion

- Number of deals fell by 10.15 percent to 77,370

However, market breadth remained strong with 61 gainers outpacing 31 losers, resulting in a healthy breadth ratio of 1.97x—underscoring sustained investor appetite for Nigerian equities.

Sector Analysis

A detailed breakdown of the week's transactions showed:

- Financial Services: Dominated trading with 1.54 billion shares valued at N28.9 billion in 32,805 deals, accounting for 59.08 percent of total equity turnover

- Services Industry: Followed with 286.8 million shares worth N1.7 billion in 6,280 deals

- Consumer Goods: Ranked third with 202.565 million shares worth N7.4 billion in 9,708 deals

The top three traded equities—FCMB Group Plc, Access Holdings Plc, and Tantalizer Plc—accounted for 600.684 million shares worth N6.6 billion in 7,201 deals, contributing 23.05 percent to total equity turnover volume and value.

Market Outlook

Analysts attribute the positive market performance to softening inflation and anticipation of a more accommodative monetary policy stance from the CBN. Investors are closely watching the upcoming MPC meeting scheduled for May 19-20, where potential policy adjustments to support economic growth are expected.

Additionally, market participants await the release of Nigeria's first-quarter 2025 GDP figures, which could further influence market sentiment in the coming weeks.