Stock Market Drops by N813bn on Profit-taking in BUA Foods

Last week, Nigeria's stock market experienced a drop of N813 billion on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), driven by profit-taking in several key companies. The NGX All-Share Index fell by 0.52 percent week-on-week to close at 250,808.27 basis points, while the market capitalization decreased by N813 billion to close at N162.843 trillion.

Despite the decline in the headline index, market breadth remained positive, with 44 stocks gaining compared to 37 that lost value. ABC Transport led the gainers, rising 45.10 percent to close at N7.40 per share, followed by Critical Minerals Financing Corp with a 37.73 percent gain to close at N4.49. Livingtrust Mortgage Bank also saw a 32.69 percent increase to close at N3.45 per share.

Conversely, Sovereign Trust Insurance led the decliners with a 12.50 percent drop to close at N2.10 per share, followed by e-Tranzact International with a 12.00 percent loss to close at N11.00. In total, 3.166 billion shares worth N155.023 billion and 4.689 billion shares valued at N240.824 billion were traded over the week in 206,662 deals and 261,198 deals respectively.

The Financial Services Industry dominated trading activity, accounting for 61.41 percent and 50.14 percent of the total equity turnover volume and value respectively. Analysts anticipate a cautious and volatile trading week, with market breadth expected to remain positive, potentially encouraging selective bargain-hunting in fundamentally strong companies.