The Nigerian stock market suffered a significant setback on Tuesday as equity investors lost over ₦326 billion, following a wave of profit-taking activities that drove sectoral indexes into negative territory.
Heavyweight stocks such as Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) (-3.2%), Lafarge Africa (WAPCO) (-4.0%), Dangote Sugar (-10.0%), Access Holdings (-5.0%), and Wema Bank (-8.27%) were among the biggest drags on market performance.
The sell-off was compounded by investor concerns over the recent cut in Nigeria’s benchmark interest rate, which analysts believe could pressure banking sector earnings and reduce the attractiveness of naira-denominated assets in the fixed-income market.
At the close of trading, the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) All-Share Index fell by 0.40%, settling at 140,929.60 points. This decline wiped off earlier year-to-date gains, cutting total market capitalization by ₦326.19 billion to ₦89.20 trillion.
Trading activity presented mixed signals. Share volumes surged by 55.37% to 759.08 million units, while the value of trades climbed 87.53% to ₦25.73 billion. However, the number of deals dropped by 17.34% to 23,657, indicating fewer but larger transactions dominated the session.
Leading the volume chart was Consolidated Hallmark Holdings (CONHALLPLC) with 169.63 million units traded, followed by Zenith Bank with 104.43 million, FBN Holdings (FIRSTHOLDCO) with 100.99 million, Fidelity Bank with 52.53 million, and GTCO with 45.01 million units.
On the value chart, major contributors included Zenith Bank (₦6.91 billion), GTCO (₦4.11 billion), FBN Holdings (₦3.15 billion), MTN Nigeria (₦1.60 billion), and Presco (₦1.23 billion).
Market breadth tilted negative, with 35 stocks declining against 16 gainers. Top gainers were Thomas Wyatt (9.80%), NSL Tech (9.59%), and RT Briscoe (9.50%). On the losers’ side, Dangote Sugar led the chart with a 10% drop, followed by Wema Bank (-8.27%) and NSL Tech (-6.25%).
All key sectors ended in the red, reflecting broad weakness across the market. Oil & Gas recorded the steepest drop at -1.80%, followed by Banking (-1.04%), Commodity (-0.90%), Insurance (-0.79%), Industrial (-0.60%), and Consumer Goods (-0.11%).
