Lagos: On Wednesday, the Nigerian stock market fell back into the red, with investors losing N101 billion, ending a two-day streak of gains amid sell-offs in key stocks.
Heavy profit-taking in Dangote Sugar, Jaiz Bank, CAP, Union Dicon Salt and Haldane McCall weighed on overall market performance.
At the close of trading, the Nigerian Exchange Ltd (NGX) market capitalisation dropped from N126.198 trillion to N126.097 trillion, representing a decline of N101 billion or 0.08 per cent.
The All-Share Index also fell by 158.74 points, or 0.08 per cent, to settle at 196,463.22, compared with 196,621.96 recorded on Tuesday.
Consequently, the year-to-date return moderated to 26.25 per cent.
Market sentiment remained weak, with 37 stocks recording losses and 22 recording gains at the close.
Dangote Sugar and Jaiz Bank topped the losers’ chart, each declining by 10 per cent to close at N74.70 and N10.80 per share, respectively.
CAP fell by 9.97 per cent to N84.85, while Union Dicon Salt shed 9.94 per cent to close at N14.95.
Haldane McCall also dropped by 9.89 per cent to N3.92 per share.
On the positive side, Premier Paint led the gainers, rising 10 per cent to close at N12.10 per share.
Fortis Global Insurance rose by 9.73 per cent to N1.24, while UAC of Nigeria gained 7.78 per cent to close at N115 per share.
Eterna advanced by 6.38 per cent to N35, and Custodian Investment appreciated by 6.06 per cent to close at N70 per share.
Trading activity declined from the previous session, with total volume, value traded, and number of deals all decreasing.
Volumes fell by eight per cent, value by 14 per cent, and deals by 18 per cent.
In all, investors exchanged 805.3 million shares worth N38.4 billion in 71,312 deals, compared with 880 million shares valued at N44.5 billion traded in 86,761 deals earlier.
Veritas Kapital recorded the highest volume with 56.42 million shares, accounting for 7.01 per cent of the day’s total volume.
MTN Nigeria recorded the highest transaction value at N7.08 billion, representing 18.42 per cent of the total value traded.
