Weak sentiment wipes N544bn off equity market value

Sentiment became weak on Tuesday, causing a significant loss of N544 billion from the Nigerian equity market's value. Key market indicators continued to decline, leading to a contraction in the equity market capitalisation from N156.52tn to N155.97tn. The All-Share Index decreased by 843.42 points, closing at 241,611.23 from 242,454.65 the previous day.

Various market sectors experienced widespread declines with the NGX Main-Board Index falling to 10,892.14 points and the NGX 30 Index descending to 8,859.78 points. The NGX Premium Index suffered losses in major financial stocks, dropping from 28,662.38 to 28,487.84 points. The NGX Banking Index and NGX Consumer Goods Index both experienced declines, while the NGX Oil/Gas Index and NGX Growth Index closed lower.

Trading volume on the equities market reached 35,625 trades involving 429.81 million shares. The Main Board accounted for the majority of trading activity, with 346.82 million shares exchanged across 20,316 deals. Price gainers included Haldane McCall Plc, Veritas Kapital Assurance Plc, and Tantalizers Plc, while red screens were led by Red Star Express Plc, Trans-Nationwide Express Plc, and Meyer Plc. Banking heavyweights such as Fidelity Bank Plc and First Holdco Plc also faced downward momentum.

The ETP segment saw trading activity with 1,014 trades in various fixed-income instruments, with Vetiva Consumer Goods ETF gaining 3.09 per cent. Debt securities market trading volume stood at 7,504 units, primarily involving transactions in sovereign non-interest finance board instruments.