Despite a wider field of gainers, a 64 % plunge in turnover left Nigeria’s All-Share Index fractionally lower, underscoring how tight liquidity and high interest rates still choke equity appetite.
Nothing to see here—almost
Nigeria’s stock market tip-toed into the long weekend with the NGX All-Share Index barely budging on 30 April, slipping 0.12 % to 105,801. Bulls outnumbered bears (39 gainers versus 25 losers) but, as so often in Lagos, money—not sentiment—made the difference. Turnover collapsed: the ₦12.8 bn that changed hands was two-thirds below Tuesday’s tally, while share count halved to 393 m. In a market capitalised at ₦66.5 trn ($42 bn), that is little more than pocket-change.
What moved—and what did not
Sector indices painted a patchwork:
Index
Daily move
NGX 30
–0.2 %
Banking
–1.5 %
Insurance
+0.9 %
Consumer-goods
–2.0 %
Oil & gas
+0.7 %
Afrinvest High-Dividend Yield
+0.3 %
AFRICT (tech-heavy)
+1.6 %
Banks, usually the market’s workhorses, sagged after a fortnight of gains; the Afrinvest Banking Value gauge fell 2.2 %. Investors pocketed profits in brewers (International Breweries –10 %) and confectioners (Cadbury –9.8 %). Logistics minnow ABCTRANS sped ahead 9.6 %, while Livestock Feeds—up another 10 %—benefited from bets that high maize prices have peaked.
Macro head-winds
With headline inflation stuck at 24.23 % in March, the Central Bank of Nigeria’s record-high 27.50 % benchmark rate looks here to stay. Even a brisk 3.84 % GDP spurt in the fourth quarter—Nigeria’s fastest in three years—has failed to coax retail investors back. Mutual-fund managers whisper that anything yielding below 30 % in naira terms is still “irrationally exuberant”.
Why it matters
April ends with the index 2.8 % higher year-to-date—respectable, but scarcely compensation for those pummelled by a naira that has lost almost a quarter of its value against the dollar since January. Appetite for equities now hinges on two questions:
Currency stability. If fresh dollar inflows from multilateral lenders materialise, naira risk could recede.
Policy restraint. The next Monetary Policy Committee meeting in May may offer a breather; a pause would be the first in six hikes.
Until then, expect more listless sessions like Wednesday’s. Nigeria’s bourse has plenty of green shoots; what it lacks is water.
