Investors Lose N71bn as NGX Slides on Bank Selloffs

The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) closed lower on Tuesday as profit-taking in tier-one banks erased N71 billion from investors’ wealth.

The benchmark All-Share Index (ASI) fell by 0.08 per cent to 141,546.80 points, while the market capitalisation dropped to N89.56 trillion at the close of trading.

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The selloffs in Zenith Bank, UBA, Fidelity Bank, and INTBREW weighed on the market, dragging the Banking Index down by 30 basis points. Market breadth remained negative with 22 gainers against 27 losers.

Trading activity slowed, with total traded volume dipping by 23.91 per cent to 414.98 million units, while transaction value rose sharply by 45.74 per cent to N12.94 billion across 25,386 deals.

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GTCO was the most active stock in both value and volume terms, driving 24.18 per cent of market value and 7.96 per cent of total volume. On the advancers’ table, CUSTODIAN (+9.94%), MULTIVERSE (+9.68%) and ETRANSACT (+9.45%) led gains, while AUSTINLAZ (-6.27%), FTNCOCOA (-4.84%) and UBA (-2.28%) posted losses.

Sectoral performance was broadly bearish as Insurance (-0.58%), Consumer Goods (-0.39%), and Banking (-0.30%) declined. The Oil & Gas Index was the lone gainer, up 0.14 per cent on buying interest in OANDO (+1.58%), while Industrial Goods and Commodities closed flat.

Market analysts said the retreat reflects post-inflation adjustments and cautious repositioning, as investors await clearer macroeconomic signals before taking fresh bets.