Equities Decline as Selloffs Erase ₦557 Billion

The Nigerian stock market experienced a downturn on Thursday, resulting in a loss of ₦557 billion after two consecutive days of slight increases earlier in the week.

Market analysts noted that significant selloffs in crucial stocks caused the market to slide into a negative phase, contradicting prior optimism.

Among the affected stocks were Omatek Ventures, International Energy Insurance, International Breweries, NEM Insurance, and WAPCO.

The market capitalization fell by ₦557 billion, which is equivalent to a 0.52 percent decrease, bringing it down from ₦106.442 trillion to ₦105.885 trillion.

Moreover, the All-Share Index also dropped by 0.52 percent, losing 870.23 points to finish at 165,397.37.

Investor sentiment remained cautious, with the market breadth showing more losers than gainers, recording 39 stocks dropping in value compared to 37 that gained.

Omatek Ventures was at the top of the losers' list, plummeting by 9.40 percent to ₦2.12, while International Energy Insurance declined by 6.06 percent to ₦3.10. Other notable declines included International Breweries, down six percent to ₦14.10; NEM Insurance, down 5.60 percent to ₦32; and WAPCO, which fell by 5.06 percent to ₦150.

On the positive side, stocks like NCR Nigeria, Union Homes REIT, John Holt, and Infinity Trust Mortgage Bank all rose by 10 percent each, concluding at ₦188.15, ₦64.90, ₦7.70, and ₦7.70 per share, respectively. Additionally, Deap Capital Management saw an increase of 9.97 percent, closing at ₦6.51.

A total of 768.3 million shares, valued at ₦21.2 billion, were traded over 46,481 transactions during the trading session. This indicates a 7 percent decline in trading volume and a 15 percent drop in the total value of trades; however, there was a 7 percent rise in the number of transactions.

Access Corporation led the trading volume with 54.28 million shares, accounting for 7.06 percent of the total market activity. Geregu took the lead in value traded, totaling ₦2.78 billion, which represented 13.13 percent of the day's overall turnover.

(NAN)