Stock Market slumps, ₦94 billion lost after sustained rally

By Taiye Olayemi

The Nigerian stock market halted its nine-day bullish streak on Monday, closing in the red with investors losing a total of ₦94 billion following a wave of profit-taking in key stocks.

The stock market capitalisation of listed equities declined by 0.10 per cent, dropping from ₦98.792 trillion to ₦98.698 trillion. Likewise, the All-Share Index (ASI) shed 148.90 points, closing at 155,496.15 from 155,645.05 recorded on Friday.

Market sentiment was broadly negative, with 34 laggards outnumbering 25 gainers. Deap Capital Management led the decliners, falling by 9.71 per cent to ₦1.58 per share, followed by Champion Breweries, which lost 9.64 per cent to close at ₦15. Red Star Express dropped 8.64 per cent to ₦10.05, while Wapic Insurance and Universal Insurance dipped by 6.45 per cent and 5.98 per cent to ₦2.90 and ₦1.10 respectively.

On the flip side, Arabel topped the gainers’ chart, appreciating by 10 per cent to ₦869 per share. Nem Insurance rose 9.67 per cent to ₦32.90, while Aso Savings advanced 9.09 per cent to 72 kobo. Eterna climbed 8.75 per cent to ₦43.50, and Chams gained 7.59 per cent to close at ₦4.25 per share.

Stock Market activity was mixed, as deal volume grew by 33 per cent despite declines in both turnover and traded volume. Investors exchanged 503 million shares worth ₦24.9 billion in 39,972 deals — lower than the 1.2 billion shares valued at ₦31.5 billion traded in 29,989 deals on Friday.

Access Corporation emerged as the most traded stock by volume, with 68.9 million shares valued at ₦1.6 billion. FBN Holdings followed, exchanging 66.6 million shares worth ₦2.09 billion, while Universal Insurance traded 19.2 million shares worth ₦21.2 million.

Sovereign Trust Insurance and Zenith Bank recorded 19.09 million and 18.2 million shares valued at ₦73.9 million and ₦1.2 billion respectively. (NAN)