Equities market halt three-days bullish run as investors lose N67.27bn

At the close of equities trading at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX), market sentiment turned negative, halting the previous day’s gains as the All-Share Index declined by 0.10 percent to 105,485.99 basis points.

Bearish sentiments resurfaced in the Nigerian equities market, ending a three-day winning streak as sell-offs in MTN Nigeria and Zenith Bank weighed on overall performance, with their stock values depreciating by 2.7 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively.

Market capitalization also fell by 0.10 percent to N66.15 trillion, reflecting a loss of N67.27 billion in equities by session end. Sequentially, the Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date returns declined to -2.2 percent and +2.5 percent, respectively.

ALSO READ: FG worries over 26,000 children in custodial centres

Despite the overall downturn, investor sentiment remained positive, as indicated by strong market breadth—31 stocks advanced while 18 declined.

On the performance board, leading the gainers was Mutual Benefits Assurance, whose share price appreciated by 10.0 percent, followed by Royal Exchange, which gained 9.88 percent. Other notable gainers included NEM Insurance (+9.84 percent), Lasaco Insurance (+9.56 percent), and eTranzact (+9.52 percent).

On the flip side, Union Homes Real Estate Investment Trust led the decliners with a 9.93 percent drop in its share price, followed by ABC Transport, which declined by 9.80 percent. Universal Insurance, Daar Communications, and Champion Breweries also saw share value decreases of 8.33 percent, 6.45 percent, and 5.00 percent, respectively.

Sectoral performance was largely positive. The Banking, Insurance, Consumer Goods, and Oil & Gas sectors recorded gains of 0.13 percent, 2.64 percent, 0.35 percent, and 0.03 percent, respectively, while the Industrial Goods and Commodities sectors remained flat.

Trading activity was robust, with total transaction volume and value surging by 1,548.98 percent and 2,172.65 percent, respectively. However, the number of deals declined by 12.39 percent, with 10,908 transactions recorded, amounting to N352.61 billion in value and 5,760.32 million units traded.

Lafarge Africa was the most actively traded stock by both volume and value, with 3.53 billion units exchanged at N4.47 billion.