The Nigerian equities market closed the week on a bearish note, with investors’ portfolios losing N257 billion as profit-taking triggered a decline in market capitalization.
Data from the Nigerian Exchange Ltd. showed that market capitalization fell by 0.16 per cent to N156.623 trillion from N156.880 trillion at the previous close, while the All-Share Index dropped 398.18 points to close at 242,619.20.
The decline was driven by sell-offs in Fortis Global Insurance, Omatek Ventures, John Holt, RT Briscoe and Dangote Sugar, among other stocks.
The market’s year-to-date return moderated to 55.91 per cent, while market breadth closed negative, with 30 losers against 21 gainers.
Fortis Global Insurance led the losers’ chart, declining by 9.31 per cent to close at N2.63 per share. Omatek Ventures followed with a 9.04 per cent decline to N1.51, while John Holt fell by 9 per cent to N9.10 per share.
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RT Briscoe declined by 7.94 per cent to N11.60, while Dangote Sugar dropped by 7.79 per cent to N64.55 per share.
On the gainers’ chart, International Energy Insurance led with a 9.92 per cent increase to N5.32 per share. Trans-Nationwide Express followed, rising by 9.65 per cent to N2.84, while Guinea Insurance gained 6.67 per cent to close at 80k per share.
Regency Alliance Insurance also rose by 6.25 per cent to 85k, while Ja Paul Gold gained 5.36 per cent to close at N2.95 per share.
Market activity weakened during the session, with total volume traded falling by 66.64 per cent to 1.41 billion shares, valued at N45.31 billion, across 39,134 deals.
Fortis Global Insurance recorded the highest volume of trades, with 874.08 million shares changing hands, accounting for 61.83 per cent of the total volume traded.
MTN Nigeria recorded the highest transaction value at N31.37 billion, representing 69.24 per cent of the total value traded.
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