Nigerian Exchange Shrinks as Equity Investors Lose N121bn
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) shrank by about N121 billion as sell pressure on some key stocks halted the bulls, resulting in a sharp reduction in combined equity portfolio value on Wednesday.
The local bourse halted its bullish momentum today, closing in negative territory, as profit-taking activities in some medium- and blue-chip stocks weighed on the overall market performance.
The Nigerian Exchange All-Share Index (ASI) declined by 0.13% to settle at 145,865.48 points, trimming the year-to-date (YTD) return to 41.72% following significant profit-taking activities from the sell-side actors.
The stock market pullback despite a broadly positive market breadth highlights the influence of strategic profit-taking, as investors moved to secure recent gains following the market’s sustained rally. However, market activities were mixed as the total volume of all trades executed in the local bourse increased by +5.06%, while the total value dropped by -16.65%.
Stock analysts reported that approximately 1,341.81 million units valued at ₦20,215.30 million were transacted across 30,749 deals. In terms of volume, UNIVINSURE led the activity chart, accounting for 14.43% of the total volume of all trades consummated, followed by JAPAULGOLD (9.19%), VERITASKAP (6.96%), ACCESSCORP (6.34%), and STERLINGNG (5.09%), rounding out the top five.
ACCESSCORP emerged as the most traded stock in value terms, accounting for 11.64% of the total value of all trades on the exchange.FTNCOCOA, LEARNAFRCA, RTBRISCOE, CAVERTON, PRESTIGE, and TRIPPLEG topped the advancers’ chart with a price appreciation of 10.00 percent each.
The top performers were trailed by MANSARD (+9.99%), ELLAHLAKES (+9.96%), CONHALLPLC (+9.96%), ABBEYBDS (+9.95%), CORNERST (+9.94%), and forty-two others.
Twenty stocks depreciated, according to data from the Nigerian bourse. THOMASWY was the top loser, with a price depreciation of -10.00%. Other decliners include BERGER (-6.16%), NB (-3.90%), WAPCO (-2.14%), ZENITHBANK (-1.96%), and TRANSCORP (-1.06%), which also dipped in price.
This downturn erased ₦120.91 billion from the market’s capitalisation, which closed at ₦92.28 trillion. Despite the overall dip, market breadth turned positive with 53 gainers against 21 losers, reflecting sustained buying interest from bargain hunters even amid profit-taking pressure.
Sectoral performance was largely negative, as the Banking (-0.53%), Consumer Goods (-0.91%), Industrial Goods (-0.33%), and Commodity (-0.03%) indices all recorded losses. However, the Insurance (+7.94%) and Oil & Gas (+0.12%) indices bucked the trend, closing in the green on the back of renewed interest in select counters.
Market activity presented a mixed picture—while trading volume rose by 5.06% to 1.34 billion units, turnover and the number of deals fell by 16.65% and 1.30%, closing at ₦20.22 billion and 30,749 transactions, respectively. #Nigerian Exchange Shrinks as Equity Investors Lose N121bn Oando: Strategic Capital Moves Signal Path to Recovery, Positive Outlook
