The Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) continued its bearish trend on Thursday as investors lost N274 billion, marking the second consecutive day of decline in the market.
According to trading data, the market capitalization dipped by 0.40 percent, dropping from N68.895 trillion on Wednesday to N68.621 trillion at the close of Thursday's session. Similarly, the All-Share Index declined by 435.01 points or 0.40 percent, closing at 109,183.02 compared to the previous day's 109,618.03.
The negative performance was driven by falling share prices across multiple sectors, with 34 stocks recording losses against only 23 gainers, resulting in a negative market breadth.
Top Losers
Leading the losers' table was Chellaram, which dropped by 9.96 percent to close at N11.75 per share. May & Baker also recorded a similar decline of 9.96 percent, finishing at N11.75 per share.
Other significant losers included Linkage Assurance, which fell by 9.88 percent to N1.46; Omatek, which shed 8.82 percent to close at 62 kobo; and McNicholas, which lost 8.70 percent to end the session at N2.10 per share.
Top Gainers
Despite the overall bearish trend, some stocks recorded gains. Union Homes Real Estate Investment led the gainers with a 9.97 percent increase, closing at N50.75. Red Star Express followed with a 9.91 percent rise to N6.10.
RTBriscoe gained 9.57 percent to close at N2.29, while Sovereign Trust rose by 9.38 percent to finish at N1.05 per share. Custodian Insurance rounded off the top gainers with a 9 percent increase, ending the session at N21.80 per share.
Trading Activity
Trading volume saw a significant increase, with 1.65 billion shares worth N19.098 billion exchanged in 26,176 transactions. This represents a substantial rise from the previous session's 664.16 million shares valued at N12.996 billion traded in 19,439 deals.
Royal Exchange dominated the activity chart with 903.59 million shares traded, valued at N903.11 million. Fidelity Bank followed with 137.41 million shares worth N2.42 billion, while Ja Paul Gold recorded transactions of 81.68 million shares valued at N164.26 million.
United Bank for Africa traded 60.78 million shares worth N2.078 billion, and Tantalizer completed the top five with 43.499 million shares valued at N111.52 million.
This latest decline follows Wednesday's session where investors had already lost N70 billion in market capitalization, indicating a continuing downward pressure on the Nigerian equity market.
