…Foreign Portfolio Pullback Drives Moving Decline In Market Turnover
The Nigerian stock market skilled a dramatic contraction in whole transaction designate in April 2025, falling by 56.seventy nine per cent to ₦482.04bn (approximately $301.90m) from ₦1.115tn (about $725.86m) recorded in March.
This steep decline, captured within the most fresh Home and Foreign Portfolio Funding Document printed by NGX, changed into as soon as largely driven by a fascinating retreat in international portfolio investment, highlighting rising concerns over investor sentiment and capital float volatility.
Regardless of the month-on-month decline, whole transactions in April 2025 remained 39.22 per cent increased than April 2024’s figure of ₦346.23bn.
On the opposite hand, the a lot of reduction from March’s efficiency changed into as soon as basically attributed to the absence of dapper-scale block trades that had substantially boosted international participation at some point of the previous month.
Foreign transactions fell very much by 90.ninety nine per cent in April 2025, plummeting from ₦699.89bn (about $455.41m) in March to apt ₦63.07bn (about $39.50m).
The dramatic pullback in international portfolio investment reduced the part of international participation to apt 13 per cent of whole market transactions for the month, with home investors accounting for roughly 87 per cent.
Conversely, home market exercise remained rather genuine, with whole home transactions rising marginally by 0.81 per cent from ₦415.62bn in March to ₦418.97bn in April.
Institutional investors led the worth domestically, rising their part of market exercise by 8.77 per cent to ₦237.66bn, up from ₦218.50bn within the prior month.
In the intervening time, retail investor exercise declined by 8.02 per cent to ₦181.31bn, down from ₦197.12bn in March.
The comparative energy of institutional participation softened the total affect of the international retreat.
Institutional investors outperformed retail investors by 14 per cent in April, reinforcing the dominance of dapper-scale home investors in a market increasingly characterised by native capital resilience.
Regardless of the monthly decline, prolonged-term trends showed a consistent uptick in home market participation.
Over the closing 18 years, home transactions have risen by 33.15 per cent from ₦3.556tn in 2007 to ₦4.735tn in 2024.
In distinction, international transactions have grown by 38.31 per cent over the same duration, rising from ₦616bn to ₦852bn.
On the opposite hand, 2024 files showed that home investors accounted for 85 per cent of all market exercise, with international transactions comprising apt 15 per cent, indicating a rising reliance on native capital.
As of 2025 year-to-date, whole home transactions have reached approximately ₦1.837tn, whereas international transactions stood at round ₦877.12bn.
Analysts warned that the most fresh international capital retreat underscores the Nigerian capital market’s exposure to world possibility sentiment, namely within the absence of structural reforms that would reinforce investor self assurance and ease capital repatriation challenges.
Whereas home institutional investors continue to toughen market steadiness, the decline in international interest would perchance well also pose liquidity dangers and have an impress on pricing dynamics if the construction persists.
Capital market regulators would perchance well per chance must double down on initiatives aimed at deepening market liquidity, making improvements to transparency, and attracting prolonged-term international investment amid an increasingly complicated world monetary atmosphere.
