The Nigerian equity market reversed its bullish trend on Thursday, losing ₦557 billion after two days of modest gains during the week.
Market analysts said selloffs in key stocks “pushed the market into negative territory” despite earlier optimism.
Stocks under pressure included Omatek Ventures, International Energy Insurance, International Breweries, NEM Insurance and WAPCO.
Market capitalisation fell by ₦557 billion, or 0.52 per cent, from ₦106.442 trillion to close at ₦105.885 trillion.
Similarly, the All-Share Index declined by 0.52 per cent, shedding 870.23 points to close at 165,397.37.
Market breadth closed negative, with 39 losers against 37 gainers, reflecting cautious investor sentiment.
Omatek Ventures led losers, dropping 9.40 per cent to ₦2.12, while International Energy Insurance lost 6.06 per cent to ₦3.10.
International Breweries fell by six per cent to ₦14.10, NEM Insurance declined 5.60 per cent to ₦32, and WAPCO dropped 5.06 per cent to ₦150.
On the gainers’ chart, NCR Nigeria, Union Homes REIT, John Holt and Infinity Trust Mortgage Bank rose by 10 per cent each. They closed at ₦188.15, ₦64.90, ₦7.70 and ₦7.70 per share, respectively, while Deap Capital Management gained 9.97 per cent to ₦6.51.
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A total of 768.3 million shares valued at ₦21.2 billion exchanged hands in 46,481 deals during the session.
This represented a 7 per cent decline in volume, a 15 per cent drop in value, but a 7 per cent increase in deals.
Access Corporation led volume traded with 54.28 million shares, accounting for 7.06 per cent of total transactions.
Geregu topped value traded at ₦2.78 billion, representing 13.13 per cent of the day’s total turnover.
(NAN)
