Nigeria’s equities market extended its bearish run on Wednesday, wiping out N74 billion in investor value following persistent sell pressure across several large and mid-cap stocks.
Trading data showed that widespread declines in counters such as RT Briscoe, ABC Transport, Skyway Aviation Handling Company, Vitafoam, and Haldane McCall, alongside 49 other listed equities, dragged the market lower.
At the close of trading, market capitalisation declined by N75 billion, representing a 0.06 percent contraction from its opening value of N124.827 trillion to settle at N124.753 trillion. The benchmark Nigerian Exchange All-Share Index mirrored this downturn, shedding 114.41 points or 0.06 percent to finish at 194,370.20, down from Tuesday’s closing level of 194,484.61.
Despite the daily loss, the Year-to-Date return remained positive at 24.91 percent. However, overall market sentiment was negative, as reflected in the breadth of trading: 54 stocks recorded price declines compared to 22 that posted gains.
Top Losers
On the losers’ chart, RT Briscoe and ABC Transport both recorded the maximum daily drop of 10 percent, closing at N10.35 and N6.75 per share respectively. Skyway Aviation Handling Company followed closely with a 9.98 percent decline to N139.35. Vitafoam and Haldane McCall each slipped 9.93 percent, closing at N112.50 and N3.99 per share respectively.
Top Gainers
Conversely, Jaiz Bank led the gainers with a 9.95 percent appreciation to N14.03 per share. Okomu Oil advanced by 9.93 percent to close at N1,765. Trans-Nationwide Express rose by 9.77 percent to N2.36 per share, while Fortis Global Insurance gained 9.72 percent to close at 79 kobo. Champion Breweries also recorded a 5.39 percent increase to settle at N17.60 per share.
Trading Activity
Market activity showed mixed signals. A total of 1.4 billion shares valued at N46.2 billion exchanged hands in 70,222 transactions. This compares to the previous session, where 1.1 billion shares worth N53.4 billion were traded across 72,218 deals. The figures indicate that while trading volume increased, the total value of transactions and the number of deals declined, suggesting reduced high-value trades.
Fortis Global Insurance recorded the highest traded volume, with 193.69 million shares, representing 14.27 percent of total daily volume. In terms of value traded, Zenith Bank led the chart with N11.07 billion worth of shares, accounting for 24.40 percent of the day’s total value.
The session reflects cautious investor positioning amid ongoing market volatility and sustained profit-taking across major counters.
