Domestic investors dominated trading activities on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) in the first half of 2026, accounting for almost 88 per cent of total equity transactions despite a decline in overall market turnover in June.

The latest Domestic and Foreign Portfolio Investment report released by the NGX yesterday showed that total equity transactions fell by 11.82 per cent to N1.71 trillion in June 2026 from N1.94 trillion recorded in May. However, market activity remained significantly stronger than the same period last year, with turnover rising by 120.06 per cent from N778.7 billion recorded in June 2025.

The report showed that domestic investors remained the dominant force in the market, accounting for about 89 per cent of total transactions in June, while foreign investors contributed about 11 per cent.

Domestic transactions declined by 13.23 per cent to N1.52 trillion in June from N1.75 trillion in May. In contrast, foreign portfolio investment recorded a marginal increase of 1.73 per cent to N186.79 billion from N183.61 billion recorded in the preceding month.

The data also showed that institutional investors continued to account for the largest share of domestic trading, outperforming retail investors by about 30 per cent during the month.

Retail investors reduced their trading activities significantly, with transactions dropping by 26.71 per cent to N532.31 billion in June from N726.27 billion in May.

Institutional investors were stronger despite the weaker market, as their transactions eased by only 3.76 per cent to N994.49 billion from N1.03 trillion in the previous month.

The first half performance further highlighted the growing influence of domestic investors in Nigeria’s equity market. Between January and June 2026, domestic investors accounted for N8.44 trillion worth of transactions, representing 87.93 per cent of the total market turnover of approximately N9.60 trillion.

Foreign investors contributed N1.160 trillion during the period, accounting for 12.07 per cent of total transactions.

In addition, domestic transactions rose by 160.83 per cent from N3.55 trillion to N9.27 trillion over the 19 years from 2007 to 2025.

Foreign transactions recorded stronger growth within the same period, increasing by 329.87 per cent from N615.6 billion in 2007 to N2.6475 trillion in 2025.

The report added that domestic investors accounted for about 78 per cent of total market transactions in 2025, while foreign investors contributed the remaining 22 per cent, reinforcing the increasing role of local investors in supporting liquidity and sustaining activity in Nigeria’s equities market.