Insurance Stocks Drag Nigerian Market to ₦425bn Loss, Extending Three-Day Decline

|By Adejumo Adekunle

The Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) slumped further on Friday as insurance firms and other listed companies wiped out ₦425 billion in market value, stretching the market’s losing streak to a third consecutive day.

Heavy profit-taking in International Energy Insurance, Lasaco Assurance, Linkage Assurance, NEM Insurance, Meyer, and 34 other equities fueled the downturn.

By close of trading, the market capitalisation fell 0.46 percent to ₦91.501 trillion, down from Thursday’s ₦91.926 trillion. Similarly, the All-Share Index (ASI) shed 671.81 points or 0.46 percent, finishing at 144,628.20 compared with 145,300.01 in the previous session.

Market breadth ended the week negative, with 39 losers outpacing 30 gainers.

Lasaco Assurance topped the losers’ table after sliding 10 percent to ₦4.05, followed by International Energy Insurance, which also crashed 10 percent to ₦3.33 per share. Linkage Assurance, NEM Insurance, and Meyer also recorded sharp declines.

On the brighter side, Mutual Benefits Insurance gained 10 percent to ₦3.85, while Ikeja Hotel surged 9.95 percent to ₦22.65 per share. Banking stocks staged a rebound, led by Wema Bank, which jumped 9.90 percent to ₦22.75.

Trading activity slowed compared with Thursday, as investors exchanged 1.37 billion shares worth ₦13.9 billion in 32,065 deals, against 2.46 billion shares valued at ₦22.22 billion in 43,515 deals recorded the previous day.