JUST IN: Nigerian Stocks End 8-Day Gains As Banks Slide

Nigerian stocks fell 1.4%, ending an eight-day rally on Wednesday as investors booked profits from the relatively liquid banking sector, LSEG data showed.

The All Share fell to 82,024.38 points.

The stock index crossed a psychological threshold of 80,000 points for the first time on Monday.

Profit-taking dominated the day, sending 62 stocks into the red and wiping out N639 billion from the market capitalization.

Following a rapid 11% ascent over the past week, investors opted to lock in profits. This sentiment drove equities down, shrinking market cap from N45.524 trillion to N44.885 trillion.

Despite the bearish mood, trading volume and value witnessed an uptick. Volume climbed 16.3% to 1.64 billion units, while value rose 17% to N25.38 billion.

Top Gainers and Losers:

Gainers: CADBURY (+9.92%), VERITASKAP (+9.76%), LINKASSURE (+8.70%), TRANSCOHOT (+7.24%), PRESTIGE (+7.24%), BUAFOODS (+5.82%)
* **Losers:** MAYBAKER (-10.00%), CHAMS (-10.00%), CAVERTON (-10.00%), FTNCOCOA (-10.00%), CORNERST (-10.00%), CONHALLPLC (-10.00%)

Heavyweights Wobble: Blue-chip stocks like ZENITHBANK (-9.93%), UBA (-9.97%), GTCO (-8.71%), MTNN (-4.41%), and BUACEMENT (-0.05%) faced selling pressure, while DANGCEM (+3.83%) and BUAFOODS (+5.82%) managed to buck the trend.

Short-Lived Triumph: Notably, FBNH and ACCESSCORP, which briefly breached the N1 trillion market cap mark yesterday, retreated after declines of -9.79% and -6.23% respectively.