Nigerian insurance companies, other firms push NGX to N425bn losses amid three-day decline streak

Nigerian insurance firms and other companies pushed the Nigerian Exchange Limited to a N425 billion loss on Friday, sustaining the market’s three days of decline.

Friday’s decline was driven by profit-taking in International Energy Insurance, Lasaco Assurance, Linkage Assurance, NEM Insurance, Meyer, and 34 other companies.

Market capitalisation fell by 0.46 percent, closing at N91.501 trillion from N91.926 trillion recorded on Thursday.

In the same vein, the All-Share Index dropped by 0.46 percent, or 671.81 points, closing at 144,628.20 from 145,300.01 in the previous session.

To this end, the market breadth closed the week on negative with 39 losers compared to 30 gainers.

A breakdown of Friday’s trading showed that Lasaco Assurance led the losers’ chart, dropping 10 percent to N4.05, while International Energy Insurance also fell 10 percent to N3.33 per share.

Linkage Assurance, NEM Insurance, and Meyer stocks also dipped on Friday.

However, in the gainers’ table, Mutual Benefits rose 10 percent to N3.85, while Ikeja Hotel gained 9.95 percent, closing at N22.65 per share.

Banking stocks also bounced back, with Wema Bank appreciating by 9.90 percent to N22.75.

Accordingly, a total of 1.37 billion shares worth N13.9 billion were traded across 32,065 deals on Friday; this compares to 2.46 billion shares valued at N22.22 billion exchanged in 43,515 deals on Thursday.

Nigerian insurance companies, other firms push NGX to N425bn losses amid three-day decline streak