Nigerian Stock Exchange Sees 0.49% Drop as Investors Lose N590 Billion

The equities market in Nigeria reversed its previous positive trend on Tuesday as the All-Share Index dropped by 0.49%, finishing at 189,321.24 points, thereby reducing the year-to-date return to 21.66%.

The market capitalisation fell by 0.47%, equating to a loss of N590 billion, resulting in a closing figure of N121.5 trillion.

Notwithstanding the overall decline, market sentiment showed mild positivity, with a market breadth of 1.1x, as 44 stocks gained ground compared to 40 that fell.

Analysts from Cowry Assets Management attributed the downward trend to the strong buying momentum of certain stocks.

The stocks leading the gainers' list included ABCTRANS, ZICHIS, REDSTAREX, MEYER, and JAPAULGOLD, while the steepest losses were recorded by MECURE, ZENITH BANK, SKYAVN, RTBRISCOE, and TRIPPLEG.

In terms of sector performance, the Banking index noted the largest drop at 3.69%, followed closely by Insurance with a decline of 0.57%, Industrial by 0.50%, and Oil & Gas by 0.06%. Conversely, the Consumer Goods and Commodity indices posted gains of 2.54% and 0.32%, respectively.

Trading activity saw improvement across multiple indicators, with transaction numbers increasing by 34.82% to 86,697 deals, while traded volumes rose by 12.93% to 1.19 billion units despite a 4.44% drop in total transaction value, which fell to N60.19 billion.

Daily Trust notes that this marks the first occasion in February that the NGX All Share Index has closed negatively.

On a different note, the naira saw gains against both exchange channels, strengthening by 0.60% to N1,335.96/$ from N1,347 on Monday at the NAFEM window, and by 0.87% to N1,371/$ in the parallel market.