NGX equity turnover drops 35.6% in holiday-shortened week

Trading activity on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) slowed sharply this week after the Federal Government declared Thursday, October 1, 2026, a public holiday for Independence Day, a weekly market report sighted by Confiance News shows.

According to the report, investors exchanged 3.166 billion shares worth ₦155.023 billion in 206,662 deals during the week ended October 2. By contrast, the previous week recorded 4.689 billion shares valued at ₦240.824 billion in 261,198 deals. Confiance News calculations from those figures show that volume fell by about 32.5%, value dropped by roughly 35.6%, and the number of deals declined by about 20.9%.

Wednesday was the busiest session

Daily data obtained by Confiance News indicate that Wednesday, September 30, was the most active day. Investors traded 1.035 billion shares worth ₦53.615 billion in 44,427 deals. Monday followed closely on volume, with 1.025 billion shares valued at ₦39.560 billion, although it produced the highest number of deals at 61,661.

Tuesday and Friday were quieter. Tuesday saw 548.6 million shares worth ₦34.288 billion change hands, while Friday recorded 557.1 million shares valued at ₦27.560 billion, the lowest value of the week.

Market participation held steady

Notably, the number of traded stocks barely moved. Between 131 and 132 equities traded each day, which suggests that the slowdown reflected fewer sessions and lighter order flow rather than a thinner pool of active stocks. The report itself attributed the shorter week to the holiday and offered no further explanation for the dip.