Block trades lift equity market transactions to N1.62tn

Total transactions in the nation’s equity market rose significantly by 78.5 per cent to N1.62tn in September 2025, up from N908.38bn recorded in August 2025, according to the latest Domestic and Foreign Portfolio Participation in Equity Trading report released by the Nigerian Exchange Limited on Thursday.

The NGX attributed the sharp increase in trading value to a series of block trades executed during the month under review, which boosted overall market activity.

The report showed that domestic investors continued to dominate trading on the exchange, accounting for 76.09 per cent of total market transactions valued at N1.23tn, while foreign investors accounted for 23.91 per cent, representing N387.62bn.

Compared to September 2024, when the total transaction value stood at N493.01bn, the September 2025 performance reflected a strong year-on-year growth of 228.89 per cent.

Further analysis revealed that total domestic transactions rose 67.51 per cent from N736.57bn in August 2025 to N1.23tn in September 2025. Similarly, total foreign transactions jumped 125.61 per cent from N171.81bn (about $112.18m) to N387.62bn (about $262.73m) within the same period.

On a segmental basis, institutional investors outperformed their retail counterparts during the month. Institutional investors accounted for N955.26bn of total domestic trades, representing a 143.13 per cent increase from the N392.90bn recorded in August. In contrast, retail investors’ participation fell 18.94 per cent to N278.57bn from N343.67bn in the preceding month.

The NGX report noted that the value of domestic transactions in the first nine months of 2025 stood at N6.70tn, representing 78.44 per cent of total market activity, while foreign transactions amounted to N1.84tn, or 21.56 per cent. This reflects a significant increase from the corresponding period in 2024, when domestic and foreign trades stood at N3.27tn and N696.88bn, respectively.

Over an 18-year period, domestic transactions on the exchange have grown 33.15 per cent, from N3.56tn in 2007 to N4.73tn in 2024, while foreign transactions increased 38.31 per cent, from N616bn to N852bn within the same period.

The report also stated that the exchange rate stood at N1,495.35 to a dollar at the end of September 2025, compared to N1,531.57 to a dollar in August 2025, based on data from the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market.

Analysts believe that the participation of institutional investors and renewed foreign inflows indicate rising confidence in the Nigerian equity market amid efforts by the Central Bank of Nigeria and fiscal authorities to stabilise the economy.