The Nigerian equities market closed on a bearish note on Thursday, with investors losing an estimated N438 billion following sell-offs in major stocks, including Dangote Sugar Refinery and Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO).
Data from the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) showed that market capitalization dipped by N437.54 billion to close at N88.93 trillion, while the All-Share Index fell by 691.52 points, representing a 0.49% decline, settling at 140,557.24.
Sell pressure was concentrated in large and mid-cap stocks such as DANGSUGAR, GTCO, WAPCO, and ELLAHLAKES, dragging the market breadth into negative territory with 38 losers against 19 gainers.
Despite the decline in index performance, trading activity increased, with transaction volume rising by 29.60% and value up by 27.35%. A total of 885.02 million shares valued at N28.30 billion were exchanged across 26,163 deals.
CHAMPION led the activity chart in volume, accounting for 22.75% of total trades, followed by ACCESSCORP (11.56%), GTCO (10.91%), STERLINGNG (10.28%), and FIRSTHOLDCO (5.23%). In terms of value, GTCO topped the chart with 31.48% of total transactions.
On the gainers’ chart, SCOA rose by 10%, trailed by RTBRISCOE (+9.80%), NEM (+7.96%), and NGXGROUP (+7.94%). Meanwhile, INTENEGINS led the losers with a -9.62% decline, followed by ELLAHLAKES (-8.49%), DANGSUGAR (-5.54%), HONYFLOUR (-4.44%), and GTCO (-3.11%).
Sectoral performance was largely negative, with Banking (-1.41%), Consumer Goods (-0.92%), Industrial (-0.45%), and Oil & Gas (-0.02%) all declining, while Insurance gained 0.44%.
