The Nigerian equities market closed on a bearish note on Wednesday, with investors losing N324bn in market value.
The benchmark All-Share Index slipped by 512.60 points, or 0.36 per cent, to finish at 141,248.76, trimming the year-to-date return to 37.23 per cent despite earlier gains in the week.
Market activity, however, recorded a rebound as 682,854,714 units of shares exchanged hands in 28,651 deals, worth N22.22bn.
This represented a 13 per cent rise in volume and a significant 72 per cent jump in turnover compared with the preceding trading session. The market capitalisation currently stands at N89.4tn.
Out of 127 traded equities, 17 closed in the green while 40 ended in the red. Cornerstone Insurance emerged as the worst-performing stock of the day after shedding 10 per cent to settle at N6.39 per share.
It was trailed by RT Briscoe with a 10 per cent dip, Associated Bus Company which lost 9.8 per cent, and Nigerian Exchange Group which declined 9.7 per cent.
Conversely, Deap Capital Management & Trust led the gainers with a 4.82 per cent rise to N1.74 per share, followed by Legend Internet with a 4.63 per cent gain, Honeywell Flour Mill up 4.17 per cent, and Tantalizers which appreciated by 3.6 per cent.
In terms of trade volume, FCMB Group dominated with 108 million shares, ahead of Sterling Bank with 86 million, Cutix with 45.8 million, and Access Holdings with 39.3 million.
By transaction value, Aradel led the chart with N4.1bn, followed by Seplat at N2.62bn, Nestle with N1.28bn, BUA Foods at N1.25bn, and FCMB with N1.19bn.
Sectoral performance showed mixed sentiment, with the Top 30 Index losing 0.27 per cent and the Main Board Index falling 0.56 per cent. The Oil & Gas Index gained 0.18 per cent, while the Premium Index closed flat.
The day’s decline was largely attributed to profit-taking activities and sector-wide sell-offs, which outweighed the positive momentum recorded earlier in the week.
Just a day earlier, The PUNCH reported that the Nigerian Exchange had extended its bullish run on Tuesday as investors gained N203bn.
Market capitalisation rose to N89.7tn at the close of trading, while the ASI added 321.59 points, or 0.23 per cent, to close at 141,761.36 compared with 141,439.77 posted on Monday. This brought the year-to-date gain to 37.73 per cent, though the market still reflected a one-week decline of 0.6 per cent.
