NGX sheds N516bn as profit-taking deepens market losses

Nigeria’s equities market shed ₦515.95 billion in market value on Wednesday as renewed profit-taking dragged share prices lower, reversing the previous session’s gains and extending pressure on investors.

The market capitalisation of listed equities fell to ₦159.15 trillion from ₦159.67 trillion, while the NGX All-Share Index declined by 0.32 per cent to close at 245,116.49 points. The decline moderated the market’s year-to-date return to 57.52 per cent.

Market sentiment weakened, with 37 stocks recording losses against 18 gainers, translating to a negative market breadth of 0.5 times and indicating that selling pressure remained widespread across the market.

CWG, UPDC Real Estate Investment Trust, and Austin Laz led the decliners, reflecting renewed downward pressure on selected stocks as investors continued to take profits following the market’s strong gains earlier in the year.

Sectoral performance was largely negative, with the banking index falling by 1.49 per cent, while insurance stocks declined by 1.41 per cent. The consumer goods sector also lost 0.43 per cent, reflecting selling pressure across three key segments of the market.

Oil and gas stocks provided limited support, gaining 0.12 per cent, while the industrial and commodities sectors closed flat.

The banking sector’s decline was the steepest among the reported sectors, indicating the pressure on financial stocks during the session. Insurance stocks also recorded significant losses, contributing to the broadly negative market performance.

Trading activity gave a mixed picture, as the volume of shares traded increased while both transaction value and deal count declined.

A total of 354.13 million shares changed hands, representing a 1.54 per cent increase from the previous session. However, the value of transactions fell by 8.79 per cent to ₦23.60 billion, while the number of deals edged down by 0.17 per cent to 32,585.

Wednesday’s performance follows Tuesday’s rebound, when the All-Share Index gained 0.26 per cent to close at 245,911.13 points, lifting market capitalisation by ₦410.86 billion to ₦159.67 trillion.

The reversal erased the previous session’s advance and left the benchmark index below the 245,500-point level, reinforcing the fragile nature of the recovery amid continued profit-taking.

Despite the latest losses, the market retains a year-to-date gain of 57.52 per cent, indicating that equities have delivered substantial aggregate appreciation since the beginning of the year.