The Nigerian stock market continued its downward trend on Thursday, as investors saw their holdings shrink by N1.005 trillion. This follows a loss of N648 billion sustained just one day prior. Data from the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) reveals that the total market capitalisation slipped to N158.339 trillion from the previous day’s N159.344 trillion.
The All-Share Index (ASI) fell by 1,617.91 points, equivalent to a 0.66 per cent decrease, ending the session at 245,362.26. Consequently, the year-to-date return has adjusted to 57.67 per cent. Market sentiment remained unfavorable, with 44 equities losing value while only 18 stocks posted gains.
Tripple Gee experienced the sharpest drop, falling 10 per cent to N2.88. It was closely followed by Lasaco Assurance, which slid 9.92 per cent to N2.18, and C&I Leasing, which decreased by 9.84 per cent to N5.50. Additional losers included Mutual Benefits Assurance and Trans-Nationwide Express.
On the positive side, Legend Internet saw the highest gain, rising 8.64 per cent to N4.40. Other notable gainers were Daar Communications, Sterling Financial Holdings, Sovereign Trust Insurance, and Royal Exchange.
Despite the negative price action, trading volume saw a significant uptick of 177.01 per cent. Investors traded 2.10 billion shares valued at N230.83 billion across 48,231 transactions. First Holdco dominated market activity, accounting for 1.57 billion shares valued at N196.20 billion, which represented the majority of the day’s total trade volume and value.
