Investors lost N101 billion on Wednesday as sell-offs in key stocks pulled the Nigerian stock market back into negative territory after two days of gains.
Heavy profit-taking in Dangote Sugar, Jaiz Bank, CAP, Union Dicon Salt and Haldane McCall weighed on overall market performance.
At the close of trading, the Nigerian Exchange Ltd. (NGX) market capitalisation dropped from N126.198 trillion to N126.097 trillion, representing a decline of N101 billion or 0.08 per cent.
The All-Share Index also fell by 158.74 points, or 0.08 per cent, to settle at 196,463.22, compared with 196,621.96 recorded on Tuesday.
Consequently, the year-to-date return moderated to 26.25 per cent.
Market sentiment remained weak, with 37 stocks recording losses against 22 gainers at the close of transactions.
Dangote Sugar and Jaiz Bank topped the losers’ chart, each declining by 10 per cent to close at N74.70 and N10.80 per share respectively.
CAP fell by 9.97 per cent to N84.85, while Union Dicon Salt shed 9.94 per cent to close at N14.95.
Haldane McCall also dropped by 9.89 per cent to N3.92 per share.
On the positive side, Premier Paint led the gainers with a 10 per cent increase to close at N12.10 per share.
Fortis Global Insurance rose by 9.73 per cent to N1.24, while UAC of Nigeria gained 7.78 per cent to close at N115 per share.
Eterna advanced by 6.38 per cent to N35, and Custodian Investment appreciated by 6.06 per cent to close at N70 per share.
Trading activity declined compared with the previous session.
Total volume fell by eight per cent, value traded dropped by 14 per cent, and the number of deals decreased by 18 per cent.
In all, investors exchanged 805.3 million shares worth N38.4 billion in 71,312 deals, compared with 880 million shares valued at N44.5 billion traded in 86,761 deals earlier.
Veritas Kapital recorded the highest volume with 56.42 million shares, accounting for 7.01 per cent of the day’s total volume.
MTN Nigeria posted the highest value of transactions at N7.08 billion, representing 18.42 per cent of the total value traded.
