Aradel, Wema Bank Drop, Investors Lose N959bn as NGX Index Tanks
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) equities market capitalisation declined by about N959 billion on Thursday as sell pressure persisted across the banking, insurance, oil and gas, consumer, and industrial indices.
Large and Mid-cap stocks, including Aradel Holdings, Wema Bank and Oando Plc, among others, drove NGX indicators south. The All-Share Index declined 0.64% to settle at 233,580.83 points, pulling the year-to-date return down to +50.10%.
The massive sell-off knocked ₦958.5 billion off the Nigerian bourse’s market capitalisation, which closed at ₦149.89 trillion. Market breadth was broadly negative as 34 decliners comfortably outpaced 14 advancers – mostly lightweight listed companies in the local bourse.
The gainers list was led by REDSTAREX (9.60%), LEGENDINT (9.09%), and NEIMETH (7.10%), while the losers list was topped by ARADEL (-10.00%), DEAPCAP (-10.00%), and TRANSEXPR (- 9.90%).
Other decliners include WEMABANK (-4.26%) and OANDO (-8.47%)
Trading activity weakened considerably, with volume, turnover, and deal count declining 19.35%, 8.19%, and 0.92% to 393.65 million shares, ₦19.21 billion, and 45,813 transactions, respectively.
ACCESSCORP led the volume chart with 39.1 million units (9.9% of total volume traded), while WAPCO topped the value chart with N2.2 billion (11.7% of total value traded).
Sectoral performance was bearish, with none of the indices closing positive for the second consecutive session.
The Oil & Gas (-5.22%) and Commodities (-3.36%) indices recorded the largest declines amid sell-off pressure, with ARADEL (-10.00%) the worst performer.
The Insurance (-2.59%), Banking (-0.28%), and Consumer Goods (-0.06%) indices all closed lower, following losses in CORNERST (-9.23%), WEMABANK (-4.26%), and DANGSUGAR (-0.71%), respectively. Meanwhile, the Industrial Goods index closed flat.
Stockbrokers anticipate that the market would rebound as investors seek out fundamentally strong stocks, though profit-taking in recently appreciated counters may temper the pace of any recovery.
