The Nigerian equities market extended its bearish trend on Thursday, marking the fourth consecutive session of losses as investors’ wealth declined by ₦580 billion.
The downturn was driven by sustained profit-taking in stocks such as McNichols, ABC Transport, Eterna, Aradel Holdings, NPF Microfinance Bank, and 25 other decliners, which pushed the market into negative territory.
Market capitalization fell by ₦580 billion, or 0.37 per cent, to close at ₦155.359 trillion, down from ₦155.939 trillion recorded in the previous session.
Similarly, the All-Share Index, ASI, dropped by 905.30 points, or 0.37 per cent, to settle at 242,227.31 compared with 243,132.61 posted on Wednesday. Consequently, the market’s Year-to-Date, YtD, return moderated to 55.66 per cent.
Market breadth closed negative, with 30 stocks recording losses against 25 gainers, reflecting the prevailing bearish sentiment among investors.
Meanwhile, McNichols led the losers’ chart with a 10 per cent decline, ending the session at ₦7.74. ABC Transport trailed with a 9.88 per cent drop, closing at ₦6.20, while Eterna fell by 9.85 per cent to ₦29.75 per share. Aradel dipped by 9.51 per cent, settling at ₦1,749.90, and NPF Microfinance Bank shed 8.45 per cent to close at ₦5.20 per share.
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Conversely, International Energy Insurance led the gainers’ chart with a 10 per cent rise, settling at ₦6.60.
Omatek Ventures followed with a 9.73 per cent increase, finishing at ₦2.03, while Abbey Mortgage Bank advanced by 9.68 per cent to ₦8.50 per share.
Similarly, Cutix gained 9.66 per cent to close at ₦3.18, and John Holt rose by 7.97 per cent to ₦14.90 per share.
A total of 588.5 million shares valued at ₦27.88 billion were traded across 57,352 transactions, compared to 922.9 million shares worth ₦42.27 billion exchanged in 69,332 deals on Wednesday. This revealed an overall decline in market value, volume, and deals.
Access Corporation emerged as the most actively traded stock by volume, with 264.59 million shares exchanged, representing 44.96 per cent of the total volume traded for the day.
Nigerian Exchange Group led the value chart, recording transactions worth ₦3.89 billion, which accounted for 13.95 per cent of the market’s total turnover.
