The Nigerian Exchange Group experienced a downturn on Thursday, erasing N32 billion in market value following a brief period of growth. Total market capitalization fell by 0.02 percent, dropping from N156.239 trillion on Wednesday to finish the session at N156.207 trillion as investors exercised greater caution.
Reflecting this downward trend, the All-Share Index dropped by 221.14 points, or 0.09 percent, settling at 242,145.61 compared to the previous figure of 242,366.75. Despite this setback, the market maintained a positive year-to-date return of 55.61 percent, with market breadth remaining healthy as 27 stocks appreciated while 22 declined.
Eunisell Interlinked led the decliners with a 10 percent drop to N189. BUA Cement also saw a significant decrease, sliding 9.99 percent to N275.60, alongside losses from Chemical and Allied Products, Royal Exchange, and Guinea Insurance. On the positive side, First Holding Company climbed 9.96 percent to reach N87.25, while McNicholas and UBA also saw notable gains.
Trading volume saw an uptick of 4.64 percent, reaching 498.45 million shares valued at N34.87 billion across nearly 40,000 deals. Ja Paul Gold saw the highest volume of trade with 77.66 million shares, while Seplat commanded the highest transaction value, contributing N13.19 billion to the day’s turnover.
