NGX drops below 250,300 points amid bearish sentiment

The equities market on the Nigerian Exchange extended its losing streak to a fifth consecutive session as sustained risk-off sentiment dragged trading performance lower. The All-Share Index declined by 394.36 points, representing a loss of 0.16 per cent, to close at 250,273.50 points on Tuesday.

Similarly, the overall market capitalisation value shed N256bn to close at N162.496tn. The negative performance was driven by price depreciation in large and medium capitalised stocks, including First Holdco, Unilever Nigeria, Fidson Healthcare, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, and Stanbic IBTC Holdings.

The decline reflects continued cautious sentiment and profit-taking as investors remained reluctant to sustain the market’s recent gains.

Market analysts stated that the session was characterised by bearish sentiment and weaker trading activity, as continued selling pressure pushed equity valuations further into negative territory.

Investor sentiment closed negative as 34 losers outpaced 26 gainers. Tripple Gee & Company recorded the highest price gain of 9.77 per cent to close at N2.81 per share, followed by Livestock Feeds with a 9.74 per cent gain to close at N10.70.

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NPF Microfinance Bank rose by 9.52 per cent to close at N4.60, Sovereign Trust Insurance appreciated by 8.23 per cent to close at N2.50, and Wapic Insurance advanced by 7.69 per cent to close at N2.38 per share.

Conversely, Critical Minerals Financing Corporation led the losers’ table, dropping 9.88 per cent to close at N3.65 per share. ABC Transport followed with a 9.70 per cent decline to close at N6.05, while CWG dipped by 7.23 per cent to close at N19.25. Zichis Agro Allied Industries fell by 6.58 per cent to close at N17.05, and Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals declined by 6.17 per cent to close at N7.60 per share.

Total volume traded fell by 33.8 per cent to 579.25 million units, valued at N36.07bn, and exchanged across 41,072 deals. Transactions in the shares of Access Holdings topped the activity chart with 192.576 million shares valued at N5.781bn.

United Bank for Africa followed with 32.747 million shares worth N1.473bn, while Zenith Bank traded 30.821 million shares valued at N4.185bn. Fidelity Bank traded 29.916 million shares valued at N691.686m, while Guaranty Trust Holding Company transacted 19.564 million shares worth N2.596bn.