Investors Lose N1.33trn As Blue-Chip Sell-off Drags Stocks Lower

The equities market on Thursday recorded a sharp decline as renewed selling pressure weighed heavily on investor sentiment across the bourse due to share price depreciation in Aradel Holdings Plc and MTN Nigeria Communications (MTNN).

The All-Share Index (ASI) lost 2,054.25 points, declining from 250,096.75 to 248,042.50, representing a 0.82 per cent decrease. The decline reflects increased selling pressure and continued cautious sentiment as the market pulled further away from the 250,000 level.

Consequently, equity market capitalization declined by approximately N1.33 trillion to N161.05 trillion from N162.39 trillion.

Market breadth stayed negative, with 26 gainers against 32 losers. eTranzact International emerged the highest price gainer of 10 per cent to close at N12.10, per share. Livestock Feeds followed with a gain of 9.09 per cent to close at N12.00, while Guinea Insurance rose by 8.97 per cent to close at 85 kobo, per share.

Learn Africa increased by 8.93 per cent to close at N9.15, while Multi Trex Integrated Foods added 7.69 per cent to close at 42 kobo, per share. On the other side, Eterna and Aradel Holdings led the losers’ chart with 10 per cent each to close at N41.40 and N1,377.00 respectively, while Cutix followed with a decline of 9.02 per cent to close at N2.22, per share.

Critical Minerals Financing Corporation (CMFC) depreciated by 8.98 per cent to close at N3.65, while NPF Microfinance Bank down by 8.70 per cent to close at N4.20, per share.

Trading activity was mixed compared to the previous session, reflecting varying levels of market participation. Total traded volume rose by 10.1 per cent to 492.23 million units from 447.00 million units, while transaction value declined by 83.4 per cent to N3.80 billion from N22.95 billion. Deal counts also declined by 0.5 per cent to 38,711 transactions from 38,905. The mixed performance across key activity indicators suggests higher trading volume despite significantly lower transaction value and deal count.

Futureview Group advised investors to maintain positions in fundamentally sound stocks with strong earnings prospects.