The Nigerian stock market continued its downward trend yesterday, dropping by N48.45 billion, marking its second consecutive day of decline. Investor sell pressures targeted major stocks such as Conoil Plc, United Bank for Africa (UBA), and several others, contributing to the market’s loss. Conoil saw a significant 10% drop, closing at N331.20 per share, while UBA’s stock price decreased by 1.6%, ending at N37.00 per share. The Nigerian Exchange Limited All-Share Index (NGX ASI) also declined by 0.1%, closing at 106,090.38 basis points, down from 106,167.75.
The market’s performance for the month and year to date showed a modest decline, with the NGX ASI’s Month-to-Date returns dropping to -1.6%, while Year-to-Date returns remained positive at +3.1%. The overall market capitalization closed at N66.436 trillion, reflecting a decline of N48.45 billion from the previous day’s N66.485 trillion. Sectoral performance showed mixed results, with declines in sectors like Oil & Gas, Consumer Goods, and Insurance, while the Banking index saw a slight 0.3% gain.
Despite the overall negative market breadth, with 19 gainers and 32 losers, a few stocks saw significant gains. Tantalizer emerged as the highest gainer with a 9.79% increase, closing at N3.14 per share, followed by NSL Tech (up 9.68%) and Caverton (up 9.09%). FTN Cocoa and Jaiz Bank also saw positive movements, rising by 6.51% and 6.04%, respectively.
On the losing side, Conoil led the chart with a 10% loss, followed by Berger Paints, which dropped 9.81%, and International Insurance, down 9.79%. The total volume of trade surged by 361.8%, reaching 1.50 billion units valued at N10.26 billion. Notable trades included Sovereign Trust Insurance, which led the activity with 989.73 million shares traded, followed by Jaiz Bank and Secure Electronic Technology.
SOURCE: THIS DAY