Two-day profit-taking drags NGX down by N894bn

File: Nigerian Exchange trading floor

The Nigerian equities market closed the final trading session of September on a pronounced bearish note, extending its downward momentum to a second consecutive day as aggressive profit-taking wiped out N894.36bn in total investor wealth across Tuesday and Wednesday.

The selling pressure was initiated on Tuesday when the All-Share Index dropped by 721.91 points or 0.29 per cent to settle at 251,913.20 points, erasing previous gains and shaving N468.63bn off equity valuation.

Downward momentum persisted into Wednesday as the benchmark index slid an additional 0.28 per cent to close at 251,211.67 points, dragging total market capitalisation down from its week-opening level of N163.99tn to N163.10tn, with a N425.73bn drop recorded on the month’s final trading day alone.

Across both sessions, sell-offs in heavyweight blue-chip stocks drove the market contraction, with tier-one lenders and telecommunications majors absorbing heavy pressure.

Tuesday’s broad-based slide was headlined by sharp declines in Sovereign Trust Insurance, Unilever Nigeria, Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals, and BUA Cement, alongside key financial heavyweights like GTCO and Zenith Bank.

• NGX drops N425bn on month-end profit-taking
• GTCO maintains capital buffer as subsidiary requirement hits N518.84bn
• Firm revives idle 26MW power plant in Lagos

While insurance stocks managed to buck Tuesday’s trend to record a slight sectoral gain, the broad market sentiment shifted further into negative territory on Wednesday as the NGX Premium Index dropped 1.02 per cent.

Telecom titan MTN Nigeria Communications fell by 3.01 per cent on Wednesday, alongside tier-one banking giants Access Holdings, United Bank for Africa, and GTCO, while Learn Africa and Thomas Wyatt Nigeria led the decliners’ chart.

Despite the prevailing bearish environment over the two-day period, selective buying interest provided partial relief to the overall index. BUA Cement staged a strong recovery on Wednesday by advancing N9.20 to finish at N297.00 per share, propelling the NGX Industrial Index up by 0.66 per cent after its Tuesday dip.

Consumer goods and growth stocks also recorded slight upticks on Wednesday, supported by maximum daily limit gains in equities like Haldane McCall, NPF Microfinance Bank, LivingTrust Mortgage Bank, Critical Minerals Financing Corp, Cornerstone Insurance, and ABC Transport.

Market turnover remained active throughout the downturn, recording 548.65 million shares traded in 47,203 deals on Tuesday and expanding to 1.035 billion shares across 44,398 deals on Wednesday, heavily driven by high-volume exchanges in VFD Group, UAC of Nigeria, Abbey Mortgage Bank, Chams Holding Company, and GTCO.