Market Cap dips N612bn amid widespread sell pressure

By Omodele Adigun

The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited experienced a drop on Tuesday, with declines in market capitalisation and the All-Share Index (ASI) as investors cashed in profits amidst rising geopolitical and economic uncertainties.

The All-Share Index (ASI) settled at 152,629.60 points, down from 153,739.11 points in the previous session, while market capitalisation contracted by approximately N612 billion to N96.971 trillion from N97.583 trillion.

Sell-offs were broad-based, with the insurance sector leading the decline, down 3.76 per cent; the banking space slipped 2.05 per cent; the consumer goods index dropped 1.49 per cent; energy declined 0.78 per cent; and industrial goods fell marginally by 0.01 per cent. The commodity segment ended flat.

Among individual stocks, the biggest losers included SAHCO and NASCON, which each plunged 10.00 per cent to close at N89.55 and N99.00 respectively; Oando fell 9.99 per cent to N43.25; UPDC lost 9.92 per cent to N5.54; and Learn Africa slipped 9.86 per cent to N5.85.

On the upside, Eunisell led the gainers with a 10.00 per cent increase to N64.90, followed by Sunu Assurances (+9.98 per cent to N4.96), Honeywell Flour (+9.72 per cent to N19.75), Livestock Feeds (+7.25 per cent to N7.40), and The Initiates (+4.17 per cent to N12.50).

Trading activity saw 683.9 million equities valued at N20.4 billion exchanged in 33,288 deals, representing an 8.99 per cent rise in volume but an 18.40 per cent fall in value, alongside an 8.61 per cent drop in deal count compared with the prior day when 627.5 million equities worth N25.0 billion were traded in 36,425 deals.

The session’s activity was dominated by Aso Savings (112.0 million units for N115.2 million), FCMB (110.1 million units worth N1.1 billion), Fidelity Bank (55.1 million units valued at N1.1 billion), Zenith Bank (38.3 million units for N2.4 billion), and First Holdco (29.8 million units valued at N929.4 million).