The Nigerian equities market witnessed a sharp downturn on Thursday, as investors on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) suffered a significant capital loss of approximately ₦274 billion. This decline was primarily attributed to sustained profit-taking activities in major stocks, particularly TRANSCORP (-4.4%), FIDELITY Bank (-7.0%), and DANGOTE Sugar (-5.9%), which dragged market performance into negative territory.
The NGX All-Share Index slipped by 0.4% to close at 109,183.02 points, paring back earlier gains and bringing the month-to-date return to +3.2% and year-to-date return to +6.1%. The continuous sell-offs reflect a cautious investor stance following recent monetary policy adjustments by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which appear to have softened risk appetite.
The benchmark index lost 435.17 basis points, underscoring the depth of bearish sentiment. Despite this, trading activity surged, with the volume of shares traded climbing by 146.39% and trade value rising by 45.33%. Market data from Atlass Portfolios Limited revealed that 1.64 billion shares valued at ₦18.89 billion changed hands in 25,927 transactions.
FIDELITY Bank led trading activity in volume and value, accounting for 18.46% of shares traded and 13.33% of the value. Other top-volume drivers included JAPAULGOLD (10.97%), UBA (8.16%), TANTALIZER (5.84%), and FCMB (5.65%).
On the gainers’ chart, REDSTAREX surged 9.91%, followed closely by RTBRISCOE (+9.57%) and SOVRENINS (+9.38%). However, market breadth closed negative, with 33 decliners outnumbering 22 advancers. Top losers included CHELLARAM and MAYBAKER, both down 9.96%.
Sectoral indices reflected broad weakness, with the insurance sector falling 1.68%, consumer goods declining by 1.41%, banking down 1.08%, and industrials dipping 0.01%. The oil & gas sector was unchanged.
As a result of the selloff, the overall market capitalisation of the NGX dropped by ₦273.5 billion to ₦68.62 trillion, reinforcing bearish dominance in the local bourse.
