The Nigerian stock market closed slightly lower on Thursday as a steep decline in BUA Cement overshadowed impressive gains recorded by banking stocks, particularly First HoldCo, which reached a historic milestone. Despite positive investor sentiment across several sectors, the selloff in key industrial stocks erased much of the day’s gains and pushed the market into negative territory.
At the close of trading, the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) All-Share Index slipped by 0.09% to 242,145.61 points, while total market capitalisation dropped by N32.16 billion to settle at N156.21 trillion. Although 27 stocks gained compared to 23 losers, the market’s overall performance was heavily influenced by a few large-cap stocks whose declines carried significant weight on the index. The market’s year-to-date return also eased slightly to 55.61%.
BUA Cement emerged as the biggest drag on the market after its share price plunged by 9.99% to N275.60. The decline significantly impacted the Industrial Goods Index, which fell 2.85% during the session. Chemical and Allied Products (CAP) also recorded a sharp loss of 9.61%, while Access Holdings, Transcorp, and PZ Cussons Nigeria ended lower, adding to the downward pressure. Analysts noted that the market weakness was largely concentrated in these heavyweight counters rather than reflecting broad investor pessimism.
In contrast, banking stocks delivered a strong performance and helped cushion the market from a deeper decline. The NGX Banking Index rose 2.87%, driven by robust gains in First HoldCo, UBA, GTCO, and Zenith Bank. First HoldCo stole the spotlight as its shares surged by 9.96% to close at a record N87.25, pushing its market capitalisation above N3.8 trillion for the first time. The stock has gained more than 55% this month alone and has more than doubled in value since the beginning of the year, supported by investor confidence in its recapitalisation efforts and earnings outlook.
Market activity remained strong, with trading volume rising by 4.64% to 498.45 million shares and transaction value increasing by 17.71% to N34.87 billion. Analysts believe investor sentiment remains largely positive despite the market’s slight decline, as gainers continued to outnumber losers. Looking ahead, market participants are expected to position themselves for the upcoming half-year earnings season, although profit-taking in recently appreciated heavyweight stocks such as BUA Cement could continue to create short-term volatility in the weeks ahead.
source: nairametrics
