Foreign and domestic investors’ equities trading declined by 49.95 per cent to N908.38 billion in August 2025 from N1.815 trillion obtained in July, 2025.
It will be recalled that the local equities market delivered a growth slowdown in August 2025, with the benchmark index posting a marginal gain of 0.31 per cent month-on-month to close at 140,295.49 points, while the market capitalisation increased by N344.6 billion to N88.8 trillion.
Further analysis showed that in August 2025, the total value of transactions executed by domestic investors outperformed transactions executed by foreign investors by circa 62 per cent.
Total domestic transactions decreased significantly by 55.87 per cent from N1.6691 trillion in July 2025 to N736.57 billion in August 2025. This sharp decline was primarily due to the absence of the block trades that had substantially boosted domestic transaction figures in July 2025. However, total foreign transactions increased by 17.72 per cent from N145.95 billion to N171.81 billion between July 2025 and August 2025.
Also, institutional investors outperformed retail investors by six per cent. A comparison of domestic transactions revealed that retail transactions decreased by 33.46 per cent from N516.50 billion in July 2025 to N343.67 billion in August 2025. Also, the institutional composition of the domestic market decreased significantly by 65.91 per cent from N1.1526 trillion in July 2025 to N392.90 billion in August 2025.
On equities market trading in August, Cowry Assets Management Limited said that “the Nigerian equities market posted a mixed performance in August, reflecting a tale of two halves.
The first half of the month was dominated by a robust rally, fuelled by positive investor sentiment and the momentum carried over from July.
“However, by mid-month, the market began to retrace as profit-taking set in, with the overvaluation of the index in July forcing a correction. This dragged the market from an overbought region to a moderately sold zone, trimming earlier gains.”