Stock market drops by 0.25% after Nigeria’s rebased inflation report

Nigeria’s equities market decreased by 0.25 percent on Tuesday – its second decline this week – despite that the rebased inflation data for January released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) printed remarkably lower.

At the close of trading on Tuesday, the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) All-Share Index (ASI) and equities market capitalisation decreased further from preceding trading day’s highs of 107,937.74 points and N67.345 trillion respectively to 107,670.98 points and N67.179 trillion.

The stock market’s return year-to-date (YtD) decreased further to +4.61 percent.

The market was majorly pulled down by stocks like Cadbury which decreased from N32 to N29.10, down by N2.90 or 9.06 percent and Union Dicon which dropped from N8.15 to N7.35, losing 80kobo or 9.82 percent, and The Initiates Plc which decreased from N4.45 to N4.01, shedding 44kobo or 9.89percent.

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The National Bureau of Statistics report on Tuesday noted that Nigeria’s inflation dropped to 24.48 percent in January after rebasing as against 34.80 percent in December 2024.

Adeyemi Adeniran, Statistician-General of the Federation who disclosed this noted that the rebased inflation figures provide a more accurate representation of consumer spending patterns and economic realities in the country.

“As Nigeria edges closer to Comercio’s 2025 Outlook projection of inflation easing to 15percent-20percent by mid-year, this recalibration could be the pivotal moment in the nation’s fight against inflationary pressures,” Comercio Partners said in a recent report titled “The Rebase Rhapsody- Nigeria’s Inflation Gets a New Wardrobe”.

At the Nigerian Exchange, stocks like Access Holdings, UBA, Guinness, Fidelity Bank and Zenith Bank were actively traded as investors in 14,174 deals exchanged 408,719,063 shares worth N11.261billion.