Equity market sheds N556bn as sell-offs hit key stocks

The Nigerian equity market closed bearish on Wednesday, with its market capitalization declining by N556 billion amid losses in several heavyweight stocks.

The decline was driven by sell-offs in stocks including International Energy Insurance, Aradel, Universal Insurance, Red Star Express and Royal Exchange, which contributed to a 0.36 per cent drop in the All-Share Index, ASI. Market capitalization fell from N155.973 trillion to N155.417 trillion, representing a loss of N556 billion.

Similarly, the ASI declined by 860.76 points, or 0.36 per cent, to close at 241,611.23 points, compared with 240,750.47 points recorded on Tuesday. Following the decline, the market’s year-to-date return fell to 54.71 per cent.

Despite the overall decline, market breadth closed evenly, with 27 stocks recording gains and 27 stocks posting losses.

On the losers’ chart, International Energy Insurance led with a 10 per cent decline to close at N4.77 per share. Aradel followed with a 9.99 per cent drop to N1,374.20, while Universal Insurance fell by 9.41 per cent to 77k per share.

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Red Star Express declined by 9.26 per cent to close at N14.70, while Royal Exchange shed 8.62 per cent to finish at N1.06 per share.

On the gainers’ chart, Haldane McCall led with a 10 per cent increase to close at N3.52 per share. WAPIC followed with an 8.44 per cent gain to N2.44, while UAC of Nigeria rose by 6.56 per cent to N177.85 per share.

AVA Capital advanced by 6.29 per cent to close at N7.60, while Caverton Offshore Support Group gained 5.32 per cent to finish at N4.95 per share.

Trading activity strengthened during the session, with total volume traded rising by 177.65 per cent to 1.19 billion shares, valued at N37.82 billion across 34,546 deals.

Fortis Global Insurance led the volume chart with 610.68 million shares, accounting for 51.17 per cent of the total volume traded.

MTN Nigeria recorded the highest traded value at N8.12 billion, representing 21.47 per cent of the total value traded.

NAN