The Nigerian stock market continued its downward trend for the third consecutive trading session, with investors losing a total of N290 billion. A positive real return on fixed-interest securities has driven many investors away from equities, leading to widespread sell-offs in the domestic bourse.
On Wednesday, the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) benchmark all-share index fell by 0.44%, dropping 467.77 points to close at 106,436.48. As a result, market capitalization declined by 0.43%, shedding N289.61 billion to settle at N66.65 trillion.
Several key stocks contributed to the downturn, including Nigerian Breweries (-5.6%), Transcorp (-8.2%), Wema Bank (-8.3%), Dangote Sugar (-4.17%), and Caverton (-10%).
Stockbrokers at Atlass Portfolios Limited noted that a key factor in the market’s performance was the listing of 1.1 billion ordinary shares at N2.80 per share. This resulted from Ellah Lakes Plc converting a debt of N3.1 billion into equity, leading to adjustments in market capitalization figures despite broader investor pessimism.
Market activity was mixed—while the total volume of shares traded decreased by 1.49%, the total value of transactions rose by 29.05%. Around 389.57 million units valued at N11.31 billion were exchanged across 11,427 deals.
Fidelity Bank led in trade volume, accounting for 12.33% of total transactions, followed by Access Holdings (9.16%), UBA (7.47%), Jaiz Bank (6.95%), and Zenith Bank (5.57%). Okomu Oil was the most traded stock in value terms, making up 22.48% of total trade value.
On the gainers’ chart, Tantalizer led with a price appreciation of 9.64%, followed by Champion Breweries (+7.69%), CWG (+5.70%), and NAHCO (+3.19%). However, the market saw significantly more losses, with 42 stocks declining. Caverton suffered the biggest drop at -10.00%, followed by Conoil (-9.87%), Eterna (-9.66%), FTN Cocoa (-9.52%), and Transcorp (-8.19%).
Overall, the market breadth closed negative, with only 11 gainers against 42 decliners. The insurance sector recorded the largest drop (-3.88%), followed by consumer goods (-1.51%), banking (-0.83%), and oil & gas (-0.07%). The industrial sector remained unchanged.
