KEY POINTS
- The Nigerian equities market closed September with a market capitalisation loss of N426 billion following a bearish trading session.
- The All Share Index fell by 0.28 per cent to settle at 251,211.67 points.
- Trading activity rose during the session, led by high volume transactions in VFD Group and high transaction values in UAC of Nigeria.
MAIN STORY
The Nigerian equities market concluded the month of September on a negative trajectory, shedding N426 billion in market capitalisation. Data from the trading session shows that the market capitalisation dropped from N163.530 trillion to N163.104 trillion.
The downturn was driven by broad sell-offs across multiple equities, including Fidelity Bank, Guinea Insurance, Sovereign Trust Insurance, Learn Africa, and Thomas Wyatt. During the session, the All-Share Index decreased by 0.28 per cent, losing 701.53 points to close at 251,211.67 points compared with 251,913.20 points previously.
Market breadth closed negative with 28 decliners against 25 advancers, bringing the year-to-date return down to 61.43 per cent. Learn Africa topped the losers chart with a 10 per cent drop to finish at N7.65, followed by Thomas Wyatt which fell 9.80 per cent to N2.67. Sovereign Trust Insurance shed 6.78 per cent to close at N2.20, Guinea Insurance declined 6.67 per cent to 70k, and Fidelity Bank dropped 6.07 per cent to N21.65 per share.
Conversely, the gainers chart was led by Haldane McCall, which appreciated by 10 per cent to close at N3.41. Critical Minerals Financing Corp gained 9.92 per cent to finish at N4.32, Cornerstone Insurance rose 9.80 per cent to N5.60, Livingtrust Mortgage Bank climbed 9.79 per cent to N3.14, and ABC Transport increased by 9.76 per cent to close at N6.75 per share.
Despite the bearish capital movement, overall trading activity expanded. Total volume traded surged by 88.71 per cent to reach 1.04 billion shares, while transaction values rose to N53.64 billion across 44,469 deals. VFD Group recorded the highest volume with 367.32 million shares, accounting for 35.48 per cent of total traded volume, while UAC of Nigeria posted the highest transaction value at N21.51 billion, representing 40.11 per cent of the daily total.
THE ISSUES
- Persistent sell-offs in major banking and equity counters can heighten volatility and reduce portfolio valuations for institutional and retail investors.
- High trading volumes alongside falling market capitalisation indicate intense profit-taking and rebalancing activities by market participants at the close of the month.
WHAT’S NEXT
Market participants will monitor early October trading sessions to determine whether buying interest returns following the month-end capital decline.
BOTTOM LINE
The Nigerian exchange wrapped up September with a N426 billion capital loss as negative price movements outweighed gains despite an increase in overall trading volume.
