The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) witnessed a significant downturn on Wednesday as sell pressure wiped out more than N71 billion from the equities market capitalization, according to trading data obtained from the NGX platform.
Following the holiday break, the local stock market reopened on a bearish note, with key performance indicators declining by 0.11% due to profit-taking by investors. Stockbrokers noted that investor sentiment remained tepid, driven by negative reactions to corporate earnings reports and recent corporate actions.
The All-Share Index (ASI) fell by 113.48 basis points, closing at 105,547.16, as sellers continued to offload their positions across multiple stocks.
Market data from the Exchange revealed a decline in trading activity, with total traded volume and value dropping by 19.99% and 44.41%, respectively.
Atlass Portfolio Limited, in its market report, disclosed that approximately 438.09 million shares valued at N12.02 billion were exchanged across 17,286 transactions.
FIDELITYBK emerged as the most actively traded stock by volume, accounting for 9.56% of total market transactions, followed by MBENEFIT (8.25%), NB (8.16%), GTCO (7.57%), and ZENITHBANK (6.56%). Meanwhile, GTCO led in trade value, contributing 19.19% of total market transactions.
On the gainers’ chart, AFRIPRUD and VFDGROUP recorded the highest price appreciation of 9.96% each, followed by UNIONDICON (+9.28%), MAYBAKER (+6.17%), FIDSON (+5.26%), NAHCO (+4.48%), ROYALEX (+3.81%), and 17 other gainers.
Conversely, 33 stocks depreciated in value, with UACN leading the losers’ chart after shedding 10.00%. Other notable decliners included LIVESTOCK (-8.05%), AP (-7.27%), NASCON (-6.42%), OANDO (-5.48%), and FIRSTHOLDCO (-3.02%).
Market breadth remained negative, with 24 gainers compared to 33 losers. Sectoral performance was largely bearish, with three out of five major sectors recording losses. The Insurance sector led the decline, shedding 2.61%, followed by the Oil & Gas sector (-0.49%) and the Consumer Goods sector (-0.01%). The Banking sector gained a marginal 0.07%, while the Industrial sector remained flat.
Overall, the equities market capitalization declined by N71.16 billion, closing at N66.19 trillion.
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