Equity Market Index Slips 0.19% as Investors Lose N166bn

The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) closed negative on Friday, extending its losing streak as the All-Share Index shed 272.34 basis points or 0.19 per cent to settle at 140,284.90.

The downturn erased about N165.63 billion from investors’ wealth, dragging total market capitalisation to N88.77 trillion.

The decline was driven by profit-taking in banking, insurance, and oil and gas stocks, with MANSARD, OANDO, ACCESSCORP, Nigerian Breweries and 27 others among the major laggards.

The year-to-date return on the index moderated to 36.30 per cent as weak sentiment and fading earnings season momentum weighed heavily on the bourse.

The Insurance index led the slide with a 1.54 per cent drop, followed by Banking (-0.88%), Oil & Gas (-0.51%) and Industrial (-0.01%). Only the Consumer Goods sector managed a marginal gain of 0.14 per cent, while the Commodity index closed flat.

Market activity also weakened, with total trading volume and value falling by 50.83 per cent and 63.28 per cent, respectively. Stockbrokers reported that 435.14 million units worth N10.39 billion were exchanged in 25,609 deals.

VFD Group dominated the activity chart by volume with 11.38 per cent of total trades, ahead of NSLTECH (7.66%), ACCESSCORP (6.20%), GTCO (4.92%) and First HoldCo (4.60%). By value, GTCO led with 19.01 per cent of turnover.

LEARNAFRCA emerged as the top gainer after appreciating by 9.86 per cent, followed by Union Dicon (+8.04%), Prestige Assurance (+6.75%), Academy Press (+6.11%), Omatek (+6.06%) and Berger Paints (+5.73%).

On the losers’ chart, John Holt led with a maximum decline of 10.00 per cent, trailed by Universal Insurance (-6.25%), Oando (-4.92%), Zenith Bank (-4.35%), Transcorp (-1.98%) and Legend Int’l (-0.93%).

Market breadth closed negative as 31 equities declined against 18 that gained, reflecting subdued investor appetite in the face of continued sell pressure.