The Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) experienced a downturn on Thursday as investors lost N54 billion, breaking a positive streak of four consecutive days of gains.
Market data revealed that the NGX market capitalization declined by 0.08 percent, closing at N70.510 trillion compared to Wednesday's N70.564 trillion. Correspondingly, the All-Share Index (ASI) dropped by 84.53 points or 0.08 percent to reach 111,818.08 from the previous day's 111,902.61.
The market's downward trend was primarily driven by selloffs in several stocks, including Seplat Energy, Legend Internet, Abbey Mortgage Bank, Omatek, Learn Africa, and 19 others. Despite this, the market breadth closed positive with 41 gainers outpacing 24 losers.
Top Gainers and Losers
Among the top performers, Mutual Benefits Assurance led the gainers with a 10 percent increase, closing at N1.10 per share. University Press followed closely with a 9.98 percent rise to N6.17, while Academy grew by 9.88 percent to finish at N4.45. SCOA and Livestock Feeds also showed strong performance, increasing by 9.62 percent and 9.58 percent to close at N4.90 and N9.15 per share, respectively.
On the flip side, Seplat Energy topped the losers' chart with a 10 percent decline, closing at N4,964.40. Legend Internet also dropped by 10 percent to settle at N6.84 per share. Abbey Mortgage Bank fell by 9.90 percent to N6.19, while Omatek and Learn Africa decreased by 8.97 percent and 6.21 percent, closing at 71k and N4.23 per share, respectively.
Trading Activity
Trading volume showed an increase as a total of 556.45 million shares worth N17.17 billion exchanged hands across 18,505 transactions, compared to the previous day's 512.17 million shares valued at N17.12 billion traded in 16,711 deals.
United Bank for Africa dominated the activity chart with 82.57 million shares worth N2.86 billion. Fidelity Bank followed with 70.60 million shares valued at N1.36 billion, while Nigerian Breweries transacted 37.21 million shares worth N2.102 billion. Tantalizer and Zenith Bank rounded out the top five most active stocks with 36.30 million shares (N90.97 million) and 27.69 million shares (N1.34 billion), respectively.
Market analysts suggest that this temporary setback might be a normal correction after the recent bullish run, and investors should monitor key economic indicators and corporate earnings reports for signals of the market's next direction.
