Equity Investors Experience N275 Billion Loss

The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) began the trading week on a low note on Monday, as the value of investors' portfolios decreased by N275 billion.

The market saw a decline, with the All-Share Index (ASI) falling by 0.21%, resulting in a closing figure of 200,484.43 points.

This decline caused the NGX's year-to-date return to retreat to +28.84%, erasing N275.14 billion from the overall market capitalisation, which settled at N128.69 trillion.

Trading activity was varied, as turnover increased by 4.83% to N25.65 billion, and the number of transactions rose significantly by 38.84% to reach 60,311. However, the trading volume slightly edged down by 0.32%, totaling 593.25 million shares.

Market analysts noted a negative market breadth at 0.8x, with 34 stocks declining, led by NSLTECH, MAYBAKER, LEGENDINT, CUTIX, and FTGINSURE, compared to 26 stocks that advanced. The most significant gains were noted in AUSTINLAZ, ZICHIS, TRANSEXPR, TIP, and LEARNAFRICA.

Sector performance was largely weak, with Insurance (-1.38%), Banking (-0.81%), Industrial (-0.45%), and Consumer Goods (-0.01%) sectors contributing to the index's drop. Oil & Gas managed a slight gain of +0.10%, while the Commodity sector remained unchanged.