NGX Market Slump Continues, Sheds N581bn in Fourth Day

The Nigerian equities market closed Thursday’s session in negative territory, extending its bearish run to the fourth consecutive trading day as profit-taking in heavy and mid-cap equities dragged down key performance indicators. At the close of trading, the overall market capitalisation value shed N581bn or 0.37 per cent to seal the day at N155.359tn, down from N155.940tn recorded in the previous session. Similarly, the All-Share Index retreated by 905.30 absolute points, representing a decline of 0.37 per cent, to close at 242,227.31 points. The negative outing was largely driven by price depreciation in large and medium-capitalised stocks, including Aradel Holdings, UACN, Stanbic IBTC Holdings, Eterna, and Transnational Corporation. Market breadth closed negative as 30 decliners outpaced 24 advancers, reflecting dominant bearish sentiments. On the laggards’ log, McNichols led the losers’ chart with a maximum price plunge of 10 per cent to close at N7.74 per share. Associated Bus Company followed closely, declining 9.88 per cent to finish at N6.20 per share, while Eterna lost 9.85 per cent to close at N29.75 per share. Related News Author unveils book on escaping debt, financial stress TGI, Wilmar strike $12bn Nigeria-Benin food partnership Foreign capital in telecoms falls to four-year low Energy giant Aradel Holdings also suffered a 9.51 per cent drop to close at N1,749.90 per share, while NPF Microfinance Bank slipped 8.45 per cent to settle at N5.20 per share. Conversely, International Energy Insurance recorded the highest price gain, rising 10 per cent to close at N6.60 per share. Omatek Ventures followed on the gainers’ log with a 9.73 per cent increase to close at N2.03, while Ellah Lakes and Abbey Mortgage Bank both appreciated 9.68 per cent to close at N8.50 per share. Cutix also registered a 9.66 per cent gain to close at N3.18 per share. Activity metrics weakened as total volume traded plummeted 43.4 per cent to 522.28m units, valued at N24.11bn, and exchanged in 53,613 deals. Transactions in the shares of Access Holdings topped the volume-driven activity chart with 109.719 million shares valued at N2.617m. FCMB Group followed with 34.599m shares worth N384.162m, while Nigerian Exchange Group transacted 28.045m shares valued at N3.889bn. Zenith Bank traded 26.937m shares valued at N3.318bn, while Sterling Financial Holdings Company filled the top-five volume spot with a turnover of 22.492 million shares worth N176.098m. Jide Ajia Jide, a seasoned journalist with over 12-year experience, reports business-related stories