KEY POINTS
- NGX All-Share Index fell 0.30% to 240,037.47 points, extending losses to eight straight sessions.
- Aradel, Oando, UBA and Zenith Bank were among the major stocks that declined.
- Trading volume jumped 141.92% to 2.9 billion units, while market value fell 5.58% to ₦30.7 billion.
The Nigerian equities market extended its losing streak to eight consecutive trading sessions on Thursday as investors continued to sell off shares in major companies, particularly Aradel Holdings and Oando.
The sustained profit-taking pushed the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) All-Share Index further into negative territory, reflecting growing selling pressure across several key sectors of the market.
The All-Share Index fell by 0.30 per cent, losing 712.67 points to close at 240,037.47 points. Despite the latest decline, the market’s year-to-date return remained strong at 54.25 per cent, well above Nigeria’s prevailing inflation rate.
The day’s losses were largely driven by declines in some heavily traded and influential stocks.
Aradel Holdings recorded the biggest decline among the major stocks, falling 5.40 per cent. Oando also shed 3.68 per cent, while United Bank for Africa (UBA) declined by 2.17 per cent.
Zenith Bank equally weakened, losing 0.48 per cent.
The sell-off in Aradel was particularly significant because the company also recorded the highest value of transactions during the session, with shares worth approximately ₦6.2 billion changing hands. This represented about 20.30 per cent of the total value traded.
The performance suggests that some investors were locking in gains after the strong appreciation recorded by several equities earlier in the year.
Market Breadth Remains Negative
The overall market sentiment remained bearish, with losers significantly outnumbering gainers.
A total of 14 stocks appreciated during the session, compared with 29 stocks that declined, resulting in a market breadth of 0.48 times.
HMCALL emerged as the biggest gainer, rising 9.38 per cent. TRANSEXPR followed with an 8.90 per cent increase, while MCNICHOLS gained 8.33 per cent.
On the other hand, INTENEGINS recorded the steepest decline, falling 9.85 per cent. WAPIC dropped 9.84 per cent, while FTGINSURE declined by 9.76 per cent.
The broad-based decline indicates that the selling pressure was not limited to a handful of large-cap stocks but affected several segments of the market.
While the market index and trading value weakened, activity in terms of the number of shares exchanged increased sharply.
Total volume traded jumped 141.92 per cent to approximately 2.9 billion units. However, the total value of transactions declined by 5.58 per cent to ₦30.7 billion.
The unusual divergence between volume and value was largely caused by massive transactions in FTGINSURE.
About 2.6 billion FTGINSURE shares changed hands during the session, accounting for approximately 89.06 per cent of the total market volume.
