Nigerian Stock Market Loses ₦357 Billion as Sell Pressure Hits Major Equities
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) closed Thursday’s session in the red as heavy sell-offs in select mid- and large-cap stocks wiped out ₦357 billion in market value.
The NGX All-Share Index dropped 39 basis points to 145,300.01 points, dragging down other key market indicators.
Market analysts attributed the downturn to intensified sell-side activity, particularly in insurance and banking equities. Consequently, the year-to-date return moderated to 41.17%, still well above the prevailing inflation rate.
Insurance companies bore the brunt of the losses, with Wema Bank, AXA Mansard Insurance, AIICO Insurance, NGX Group, Custodian Insurance, Dangote Sugar, Cadbury Nigeria, NEM Insurance, and United Capital Plc among the worst hit. Others that saw declines included Sterling Financial Holdings, Transcorp, FCMB, Oando, Zenith Bank, and GTCO.
Data from the Nigerian bourse showed that 50 stocks closed lower, led by the insurance sector, which posted the steepest decline among the major indices. The NGX market index fell by 498.45 basis points to close at 145,367.03 points.
Despite the drop in prices, market activity surged, with trading volume rising by 81.71% and value increasing by 7.69%. According to Atlass Portfolio Limited, 1.44 billion units worth ₦21.77 billion were exchanged in 43,164 transactions.
UNIVINSURE dominated the volume chart with 15.91% of total trades, followed by AIICO (9.64%), LINKASSURE (8.73%), MBENEFIT (6.42%), and REGALINS (4.48%). In terms of value, Nigerian Breweries (NB) led with 8.41% of total turnover.
On the gainers’ table, JULI advanced by 10%, followed by AUSTINLAZ (+9.91%), NCR (+9.43%), THOMASWY (+8.19%), CHAMS (+8.06%), and RTBRISCOE (+5.88%).
The day ended with market breadth firmly negative, recording 22 gainers against 50 losers. Sector performance was mostly bearish, with the Banking (-0.48%), Insurance (-8.26%), Consumer Goods (-0.20%), and Oil & Gas (-0.11%) sectors posting losses. The Industrial Goods index inched up 0.11%, while the Commodity sector was unchanged.
Overall, the market capitalisation fell to ₦91.93 trillion, reflecting the ₦357 billion loss.
