The Nigerian equities market witnessed a surge of foreign inflow in the month of March 2025 as foreign investors took the lead on the Nigerian Exchange Limited in terms of transaction, accounting for 62.74 percent of total in the month.
Consequently, the total transaction value of the NGX surged to N1.12 trillion during the month, representing 118.95 percent growth when compared to transactions worth N509.47 billion carried out in February.
A breakdown of the market activities for the month as contained in the NGX Domestic and Foreign Portfolio Investment Report, released recently, foreign portfolio transactions rose sharply by 1,541 percent, to N699.89bn in March, from N42.65 billion in February.
The report revealed that foreign investors engaged block trades during the period.
Further analysis of the market report showed that on the contrary, domestic transactions declined during the month as foreign investors grew their participation.
This is as the total value of domestic transactions declined by 10.98 percent to N415.62 billion in March, down from N466.82 billion in February. Within the domestic segment, institutional investors contributed N218.50 billion, while retail investors accounted for N197.12 billion, showing a 6 percent dominance by institutional players.
Foreign inflows for the month stood at N349.97 billion, almost equal to foreign outflows of N349.92 billion, indicating a balanced level of buying and selling by offshore investors.
In year-to-date terms, between January and March 2025, foreign investors have injected N814.05 billion into the market, making up 36.47 percent of the total N2.23 trillion transactions recorded so far. Domestic investors accounted for N1.42 trillion, representing 63.53 percent.
Compared to the same period in 2024, when foreign investors contributed only N213.18 billion or 13.77 percent, to a total of N1.55 trillion, the data shows a significant increase in foreign participation this year.
The March 2025 performance also reflected a 107.14 percent increase when compared with N538.54 billion in March 2024, confirming a year-on-year improvement in market turnover.
The exchange rate, which moved from N1, 492.49/$1 in February to N1, 536.82/$1 in March, did not deter foreign investors, who continued to show interest in Nigerian equities despite currency volatility.
From a long-term perspective, total domestic transactions have grown by 33.15 percent over 18 years, from N3.56 trillion in 2007 to N4.74 trillion in 2024, while foreign transactions rose by 38.31 percent from N616 billion to N852 billion over the same period.
In 2024, domestic transactions made up 85 percent of the market, while foreign participation stood at 15 percent. However, the 2025 data suggest a narrowing gap, with foreign investors becoming increasingly active.
The NGX noted that the strong foreign inflow in March was primarily driven by large-volume block trades, often associated with institutional investments or asset reallocations.
Trading activities in the Nigerian Exchange Limited witnessed a remarkable improvement last week as the market closed on a positive note.
Despite trading for four days as a result of the Federal Government’s declaring of Friday 18th April and Monday 21st April as public holidays to commemorate the 2025 Easter celebration investors’ appetite for corporate earnings was high.
As a results bargain hunting in blue chip stocks such as MTNN (+5.6%), WAPCO (+13.3%), GTCO (+6.9%), NESTLE (+10.0%), and ZENITHBANK (+5.7%), lifting the All-Share Index (ASI) by 1.46% w/w to close at 105,753.05 points. Market Capitalization appreciated by 1.46% and 1.47% to close the week at 105,752.61 and N66.465 trillion respectively.
Similarly, the market capitalisation appreciated by 1.47% to close at N66.465 trillion, delivering a gain of N966 billion for investors during the week. As a result, the year-to-date yield of the market increased to 2.7% last Friday.
Meanwhile, a total turnover of 1.854 billion shares worth N56.025 billion in 51,386 deals was traded during the week by investors on the floor of the Exchange, in contrast to a total of 1.525 billion shares valued at N43.006 billion that exchanged hands last week in 51,156 deals.
The Financial Services (measured by volume) led the activity chart with 1.266 billion shares valued at N29.400 billion traded in 24,351 deals; thus contributing 68.28% and 52.48% to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
The ICT industry followed with 136.707 million shares worth N12.472 billion in 2,974 deals. Third place was the Consumer Goods Industry, with a turnover of 118.617 million shares worth N4.415 billion in 5,869 deals.
Trading in the top three equities namely Fidelity Bank Plc, Access Holdings Plc and Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc (measured by volume) accounted for 797.873 million shares worth N22.043 billion in 8,618 deals, contributing 43.03% and 39.34% to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.