The Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) closed Tuesday’s trading session on a bearish note, with a loss of N4bn in market capitalisation as investor sentiment weakened across multiple sectors.
Figures from the NGX revealed that market capitalisation slipped slightly from N93.804tn on Monday to N93.800tn, while the All-Share Index (ASI) dropped by 6.27 points, closing at 147,710.96.
Trading activity also slowed considerably. Investors exchanged 262.39 million shares worth N8.26bn in 16,671 deals, representing a 58% decline in volume, 39% drop in turnover, and 47% decrease in deals compared to the previous session.
Market breadth closed negative, with 18 gainers against 26 losers.
Among the top gainers, Regency Alliance Insurance led the chart with a 9.56% rise to close at N1.49 per share, followed by Wapic Insurance, which gained 6.45% to N3.30 per share. Sterling Financial Holdings and Legend Internet also advanced by 5.84% and 5.45%, respectively.
On the losers’ end, Austin Laz & Company recorded the biggest drop, shedding 7.94% to close at N2.90 per share, while Caverton Offshore Support Group lost 6.93% to N6.45 per share. Guinea Insurance and Berger Paints also fell by 6.04% and 5.92%, respectively.
Fidelity Bank emerged as the most traded stock by volume, with 41.3 million shares exchanged. It was followed by Access Holdings (21.2m shares), Chams (19.8m shares), and Sovereign Trust Insurance (17.9m shares).
Sector performance was mixed. The Insurance Index gained 1.01%, while the Industrial Index rose 0.3%. Conversely, the Premium Index slipped by 0.09%.
Despite Tuesday’s dip, the market has maintained a year-to-date gain of 43.51%.
