Banking stocks dominated liquidity on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) on September 16 as trading value surged to N37.45 billion with Sterling Financial Holdings, Fidelity Bank, GTCO and Zenith Bank accounting for nearly a third of the capital deployed across the equity market.
Investors exchanged 662.43 million shares worth N37.45 billion in 63,271 deals, a substantial increase in market activity compared with the September 14 session.
On September 14, investors traded 428.97 million shares valued at N20.52 billion in 54,592 deals.
This means trading volume increased by approximately 54.4 percent, while transaction value jumped 82.5 percent and the number of deals expanded by about 15.9 percent.
The sharp increase in turnover was accompanied by a strong concentration of activity in banking stocks, which continued to function as a major liquidity channel for the Nigerian equity market.
Sterling Financial Holdings led the market by volume with 142.04 million shares worth N1.07 billion, accounting for approximately 21.4 percent of all shares traded during the session.
Fidelity Bank followed among banking counters with 43.33 million shares valued at N873.38 million, while GTCO recorded 40.55 million shares worth N5.27 billion.
Zenith Bank completed the group with 34.87 million shares valued at N4.47 billion.
| Banking Stock | Volume | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Sterling Financial Holdings | 142.04m | N1.07bn |
| Fidelity Bank | 43.33m | N873.38m |
| GTCO | 40.55m | N5.27bn |
| Zenith Bank | 34.87m | N4.47bn |
| Combined | 260.78m | N11.69bn |
Together, the four banking stocks accounted for approximately 260.78 million shares, representing about 39.4 percent of the entire 662.43 million shares traded on the Exchange.
Their combined transaction value stood at approximately N11.69 billion, equivalent to about 31.2 percent of total market value traded.
The figures show two different dimensions of banking-sector liquidity.
Sterling Financial drove turnover through the sheer number of shares exchanged, while GTCO and Zenith Bank attracted substantially larger amounts of capital per share traded.
GTCO was the most actively traded stock by value among the counters supplied, generating N5.27 billion from 40.55 million shares.
Zenith Bank followed with N4.47 billion from 34.87 million shares.
Combined, GTCO and Zenith Bank accounted for approximately N9.74 billion, or about 26 percent of total equity transaction value, despite representing only about 11.4 percent of overall market volume.
The concentration indicates that higher-value banking equities remained important destinations for capital even as overall market participation broadened.
AIICO Insurance also featured prominently in the financial-services segment, recording 73.63 million shares worth N274.42 million.
When AIICO is added to the four banking stocks, the five financial counters accounted for approximately 334.41 million shares, representing just over 50 percent of all shares traded during the session.
Their combined transaction value was approximately N11.96 billion, or nearly 32 percent of total market turnover by value.
The expansion in liquidity coincided with a stronger performance in the broader equity market.
The NGX All-Share Index advanced approximately 0.61 percent to 244,791.79 points, compared with 243,299.24 points on September 14.
Equity market capitalisation increased by approximately N967.72 billion to N158.715 trillion, pushing investors’ gains close to N1 trillion.
Unlike the September 14 session, when the market advanced despite declines in trading volume and value, the September 16 rally was accompanied by increases across volume, value and deal count.
The stronger turnover provides evidence of increased market participation, but the distribution of activity shows that liquidity remained highly concentrated.
With four banking stocks alone responsible for nearly 40 percent of total share volume and more than 31 percent of transaction value, banks remained central to the flow of capital through the Nigerian equity market even as overall trading activity strengthened.