The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) closed the last trading day of November 2025 on a positive note, recording a gain of N180 billion on Friday, November 28. This late surge, driven largely by renewed interest in the Consumer Goods sector, offered a momentary lift to an otherwise difficult month for the equities market.
Consumer Goods led the uptrend with a 0.57% gain, followed closely by the Banking sector, which advanced by 0.25%, and the Industrial Goods sector, which also posted mild improvements. These sectoral upticks helped the market rebound slightly on the final day of trading. However, the broader monthly picture remained negative.
For the month of November, the market suffered significant losses, shedding an estimated N6.55 trillion in market capitalisation. The NGX’s total market value, which stood at N97.82 trillion at the start of the month, dropped sharply to N91.29 trillion by month-end. This represents a steep 6.7% decline, the worst monthly performance recorded so far in 2025. The All-Share Index (ASI) mirrored this trend, sliding by the same 6.7% to close at 143,520.53 points, down from 154,126.46 points at the beginning of the month.
Despite the gloomy monthly performance, Friday’s trading session saw pockets of strong activity and investor interest. The N180 billion daily gain pushed market capitalisation from N91.11 trillion to N91.29 trillion. The ASI also inched upward by 0.20%, reinforcing a still-impressive year-to-date performance of +39.44%.
A major contributor to Friday’s unusual surge in activity was a massive institutional transaction involving Cornerstone Insurance. According to unconfirmed broker reports, institutional investors injected approximately N6.402 billion into the company in exchange for 1.267 billion units of its shares. This made Cornerstone the most heavily traded stock of the day and drove an extraordinary leap in market turnover.
As a result, total market volume surged by 462.83% to 1.83 billion shares. Market value also climbed by 53.49% to N20.03 billion across 12,640 deals. However, despite the scale of the Cornerstone transaction, the Insurance sector as a whole still closed as the day’s worst performer, falling by 2.29%.
Across the broader market, 33 stocks recorded price gains while 21 declined. Leading the gainers’ chart was Ikeja Hotel, which appreciated by 10% to close at N30.25. NGX Group also posted a strong performance with a 9.98% rise to N56.20, followed by Academy Press (+9.70%), Omatek (+9.35%), and Cadbury Nigeria (+8.63%).
On the losers’ side, Abbey Building Society led the decline, shedding 10% to close at N5.85. Meyer (-9.97%), Sunu Assurances (-9.89%), Sovereign Trust (-9.09%), and Link Assurance (-8.02%) also recorded notable losses.
Sectoral performance reflected mixed sentiment across the market. Consumer Goods maintained the strongest position with a 0.57% gain, buoyed by increased investor confidence in staple manufacturers. Banking followed with a 0.25% rise and Industrial Goods ticked up by 0.13%. Commodity stocks remained unchanged. However, Oil & Gas dipped slightly by 0.19%, while Insurance fell sharply by 2.29%, reflecting sell-offs in several counters despite isolated high-volume trades.
The NGX now enters December with cautious optimism. While November’s losses highlight persistent volatility, the strong close to the month underscores the potential for renewed buying interest as investors rebalance portfolios ahead of year-end.
