NGX Equities Investors Lose ₦63 Billion As Lafarge Africa, Oando Drop

The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) began the week on a bearish note, as equities investors recorded losses of approximately ₦63 billion due to significant sell-offs. Market sentiment weakened amidst portfolio rebalancing, leading to a decline in key performance indicators by 0.11%. The year-to-date return also moderated.

Profit-taking activities hit several stocks, with notable declines in WAPCO (-4.73%), ACCESSCORP (-2.82%), and OANDO (-3.02%). These losses overshadowed gains in STANBIC (+4.63%) and OKOMUOIL (+9.19%). Consequently, the All-Share Index dropped by 103.23 points to close at 98,107.52, as medium- and large-cap stocks faced heavy profit-taking.

Decline in Market Activity

Market activity slowed, with total trading volume and value falling by 58.11% and 26.33%, respectively. Data from the NGX revealed that 436.04 million shares valued at ₦12.86 billion were traded across 9,489 deals.

FCMB emerged as the most traded stock by volume, contributing 14.14% of total trades, followed by ACCESSCORP (11.71%), UBA (6.23%), GTCO (5.62%), and FIDELITYBK (5.52%). On the value chart, ARADEL led, accounting for 27.42% of total trade value.

Gainers and Losers

Despite the overall decline, GOLDBREW and NGXGROUP topped the advancers’ chart with a 10% increase each, followed closely by TANTALIZER (+9.92%) and AFRIPRUD (+9.72%). OKOMUOIL, with a gain of 9.19%, also featured among the top performers.

On the downside, NSLTECH led the decliners, posting a 10% loss, followed by DAARCOMM (-7.02%), FIDSON (-5.84%), JAPAULGOLD (-5.11%), and WAPCO (-4.73%). The equities market breadth closed negative, with 19 gainers against 36 losers.

Sector Performance

Three of the five major market sectors recorded losses, with the Insurance sector declining the most (-1.22%) due to profit-taking in CORNERST (-5.31%) and CONHALLPLC (-4.00%). The Industrial Goods (-0.53%) and Banking (-0.11%) indices also slipped, weighed down by WAPCO (-4.73%) and ACCESSCORP (-2.82%).

Conversely, the Consumer Goods sector edged up (+0.02%), driven by marginal gains in DANGSUGAR (+0.29%). The Oil & Gas index emerged as the best-performing sector (+0.44%), supported by strong demand for CONOIL (+3.10%).

Overall, the NGX market capitalisation dropped by ₦62.58 billion to close at ₦59.47 trillion.