The Nigerian stock market extended its losing streak on Wednesday as sustained selloffs in banking and other heavyweight stocks wiped N648 billion off investors’ wealth, reversing part of the previous session’s gains.
At the close of trading, the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) All-Share Index declined by 0.41 per cent to 246,980.17 points from 247,984.55 points recorded on Tuesday. Consequently, the market’s year-to-date return moderated to 58.71 per cent, while total market capitalisation fell to N159.34 trillion.
The bearish performance reflected cautious investor sentiment, with declining stocks significantly outnumbering gainers. Market breadth closed at 0.5x after 45 equities recorded losses against 23 gainers.
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Among the biggest losers were Legend Internet Plc, Cornerstone Insurance Plc, The Initiates Plc, Guinea Insurance Plc and Associated Bus Company Plc, while Lasaco Assurance Plc, Consolidated Hallmark Insurance Plc, NEM Insurance Plc, SUNU Assurances Nigeria Plc and Prestige Assurance Plc topped the gainers’ chart.
Sectoral performance was largely negative as profit-taking spread across major counters. The Banking Index posted the steepest decline, falling 1.37 per cent, followed by the Industrial Index, which shed 0.68 per cent. The Oil and Gas Index slipped 0.08 per cent, while the Consumer Goods Index eased 0.07 per cent.
The Insurance Index stood out as the only major gainer, rising 2.69 per cent on renewed buying interest in insurance stocks, while the Commodity Index closed flat.
Trading activity presented a mixed picture. Although the volume of shares traded increased by 12.11 per cent to 758.87 million units, the value of transactions declined by 7.23 per cent to ₦33.79 billion. Similarly, the number of deals dipped marginally by 0.29 per cent to 55,251, suggesting investors remained selective despite the higher trading volume.
Market analysts attributed the decline to renewed profit-taking in recently appreciated stocks, particularly within the banking sector, which has been one of the strongest performers this year.
Despite Wednesday’s pullback, analysts maintained that the broader market outlook remains constructive, noting that the relatively modest declines across most sectors could pave the way for bargain hunting in fundamentally sound counters.
They, however, cautioned that continued profit-taking in high-performing stocks may limit the pace of any near-term recovery, with investors expected to remain focused on half-year earnings releases and corporate actions for fresh market direction.