The Nigerian equities market extended its bearish stretch last week, closing at 147,013.59 points, down 1.68% week-on-week, as investors continued to price in the potential repercussions of the proposed 2026 capital gains tax on portfolio valuations.
The policy uncertainty triggered widespread panic on Tuesday, culminating in a historic single-session decline of 5.01%, the steepest daily loss in several years.
Sentiment, however, stabilised after the Federal Government hinted at a possible review of the tax proposal, helping the market record its first positive close for November midweek as bargain hunters and institutional players cautiously re-entered the market.
Overall, market capitalisation dipped by N1.50 trillion to N93.50 trillion, moderating the NGX All-Share Index’s (ASI) year-to-date return to 42.83%, still one of the best in Africa.
Market breadth printed at 1.07x, with 48 gainers against 45 decliners, indicating that pockets of resilience persisted despite the broader downturn.
Trading activity delivered a mixed picture: the total number of deals fell by 7.60 per cent, yet traded volume and value surged 104.87 per cent and 46.17% to 7.32 billion units and N156 billion, respectively—signalling increased institutional block trades amid muted retail participation.
Sector performance leaned positive: Insurance grew by 2.42 per cent and led the advance on renewed speculative and value-driven interest, while banking index appreciated by 1.26 per cent, Consumer Goods garnered 0.46 percent growth, and Oil & Gas appreciated by 0.01 per cent, closing the week higher.
Conversely, the Industrial Goods sector led the decline with 6.97 per cent pullback due to sustained selloffs in major counters, while the Commodity Index weakened by 2.02 per cent reflected broad-based profit taking.
Top performers for the week included NCR which gained 32.3 per cent, ASOSAVINGS rose by 14.4 per cent, CHAMPION advanced by 11.5 per cent, INTENEGINS by 11.5 per cent growth, and NSLTECH gaining 10.7 per cent, buoyed by solid buying interest.
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