NGX Loses ₦148 Billion As Investors Sell Off BUA CEMENT, CONOIL Shares

The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) market capitalization took a hit on Thursday, shedding over ₦148 billion as major sell-offs impacted BUA Cement, Conoil, and other prominent stocks. This negative session led to a 0.25% decline in key performance indicators, further dampening the year-to-date return.

The NGX All-Share Index fell by 244.73 basis points, closing at 97,233.07. Despite a positive market breadth, overall market capitalization was weighed down by heavy sell-offs in blue-chip stocks.

The main contributors to the decline were Conoil, BUACEMENT, and others, collectively wiping out ₦148 billion of investor wealth, according to stockbrokers. However, trading activity saw improvement, with total trading volume and value up by 18.02% and 4.08%, respectively.

Atlass Portfolios Limited reported that roughly 291.53 million units worth ₦7.82 billion were traded across 7,931 deals. ACCESSCORP led in volume, making up 20.78% of the day’s trades, followed by UBA (6.17%), ZENITHBANK (5.59%), OANDO (5.38%), and UCAP (5.31%).

ACCESSCORP also topped in value terms, contributing 19.32% to the day’s traded value. FLOURMILL and TIP were the top gainers, each appreciating by 10.00%, with others like JOHNHOLT (+9.86%), INTENEGINS (+9.85%), and SUNUASSUR (+9.75%) following suit.

On the other hand, ABBEYBDS led the losers with a decline of 9.77%, while Conoil (-6.15%), BUACEMENT (-5.93%), CUSTODIAN (-4.76%), and OANDO (-3.23%) also saw significant drops.

The market breadth closed positive with 32 gainers against 15 losers. The Insurance (+0.95%), Consumer Goods (+0.56%), and Banking (+0.53%) indices ended on a positive note, thanks to gains in CONHALLPLC (+9.62%), FLOURMILL (+10.00%), and FBNH (+1.46%).

In contrast, the Industrial Goods (-1.85%) and Oil and Gas (-1.76%) indices fell, reflecting losses in BUACEMENT (-5.93%) and OANDO (-3.23%).

Overall, NGX’s market capitalization lost ₦148.16 billion, ending at ₦58.92 trillion.