Domestic Investors’ Activity on NGX Crashes by N932 Billion in August

Trading activities at the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) experienced a dramatic slump in August, primarily driven by a sharp contraction in transactions executed by domestic investors. Data released by the NGX revealed that domestic investors significantly scaled back their participation by a staggering $\text{N}932.48$ billion, a decline of $55.87\%$ month-on-month.

The total value of transactions executed by domestic investors fell from $\text{N}1.669$ trillion in July 2025 to $\text{N}736.57$ billion in August. This monumental reduction also dragged down the overall market turnover, which plunged by $49.95\%$ from $\text{N}1.815$ trillion to $\text{N}908.38$ billion during the same period.

According to market analysts, the core reason for the sharp decline was the absence of massive block trades that had inflated the domestic transaction figures in July. This decline was most pronounced among institutional investors, whose activity decreased significantly by $65.91\%$, dropping from $\text{N}1.1526$ trillion to $\text{N}392.90$ billion. Domestic retail investors also cut back on trades, with their participation dipping by $33.46\%$.

In a key market divergence, foreign investors showed renewed appetite, increasing their total transactions by $17.72\%$ to $\text{N}171.81$ billion in August, up from $\text{N}145.95$ billion in July.

Despite the severe month-on-month contraction, domestic investors maintained their long-standing dominance in the market, accounting for $81.09\%$ of total transactions and outperforming foreign investors by circa $62\%$ for the month. The NGX data underscores the market’s continued reliance on domestic liquidity, while also highlighting the volatility that large, one-off institutional trades can introduce to monthly market performance figures.