Nigerian Stock Market Sheds N931 Billion as Bearish Trend Persists; Dangote Cement, GTCO Among Key Losers

The Nigerian stock market continued its downward trajectory as the market capitalisation plunged by N931 billion, representing a 1.47% decline, closing at N62.257 trillion compared to N63.188 trillion at the opening.

Similarly, the All-Share Index dropped by 1,526.14 points to settle at 102,095.95, down from Tuesday’s 103,622.09. This performance dragged the Year-To-Date (YTD) return further into negative territory, dipping by 0.81%.

The persistent selloffs in equities such as Dangote Cement, Guarantee Trust Holding Company (GTCO), and United Bank for Africa (UBA) kept the market in bearish terrain. Market breadth was skewed negatively, with 39 stocks declining against 28 gainers.

Leading the losers’ chart, Dangote Cement and Universal Insurance each fell by 10%, closing at N387.90 and 63k per share, respectively. John Holt followed closely, shedding 9.99% to close at N8.47, while Transnational Power and Omatek recorded respective declines of 9.97% and 9.89%, closing at N3.24 and 82k per share.

On the brighter side, Dangote Sugar, Sunu Assurances, and National Salt Company topped the gainers’ list, each appreciating by 10% to close at N36.85, N6.71, and N38.50 per share, respectively. Sky Aviation gained 9.95% to close at N33.15, while Austin Laz added 9.94%, finishing at N1.99 per share.

Trading activity also declined, with a turnover of 435.54 million shares valued at N9.44 billion exchanged in 12,098 deals, reflecting a 25.99% drop in transaction value compared to the previous session’s N12.63 billion.

Universal Insurance led the volume chart, trading 70.31 million shares, while BUA Foods dominated the value segment with deals worth N2.52 billion.