Lagos: The equities market snapped its winning streak on Thursday, tumbling by N170 billion and erasing recent gains.
Selloffs in large- and mid-cap stocks like Zichis Agro Allied Industries, FTN Cocoa Processors, Meyer, RT Briscoe, Neimeth Pharmaceuticals, and 32 others drove the market into negative territory.
Reflecting these selloffs, the market capitalisation of listed equities dropped by N170 billion, or 0.10 per cent, from N161.839 trillion to close at N161.669 trillion.
In line with this, the All-Share Index (ASI) declined by 0.10 per cent, shedding 265.08 points to close at 252,243.11 compared to 252,508.19 on Wednesday.
As a result, the Year-To-Date (YTD) return fell to 62.10 per cent.
However, the market breadth closed higher, with 37 stocks gaining and 28 losing.
Learn Africa led the gainers’ chart by 10 per cent, closing at N9.90; Fidson Healthcare followed with 9.97 per cent, settling at N124.60; and Austinlaz climbed by 9.95 per cent, closing at N4.09 per share.
Similarly, Berger Paints soared by 9.92 per cent, finishing at N154, and Deap Capital Management rose by 9.90 per cent, settling at 5.77 per share.
On the losers’ chart, Zichis Agro Allied Industries led by 9.99 per cent, ending the session at N32.69. FTN Cocoa Processors trailed by 9.87 per cent, settling at N9.95, while Meyer lost by 9.83 per cent, finishing at N21.55 per share.
Also, RT Briscoe fell by 9.41 per cent, finishing at N15.40, and Neimeth Pharmaceuticals shed by 7.44 per cent, settling at N9.95 per share.
Market activity declined on the day, as total volume traded fell by 45.06 per cent to 1.04 billion shares, worth N41.64 billion, in 74,822 transactions.
Chams recorded the highest volume traded, with 127.94 million shares, accounting for 12.31 per cent of the day’s total volume.
In terms of value, Aradel had the highest traded value at N6.31 billion, accounting for 15.15% of the total value.