Investors Lose N81bn As Bearish Trend Persists On NGX
About The Author
The Nigerian stock market extended its bearish trend on Wednesday, as investors on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) recorded a loss of N81 billion in market value. This downturn was primarily driven by sell-offs in large-cap stocks, despite more gainers than losers in the session.
The market capitalisation declined by 0.12 percent, closing at N66.496 trillion, down from N66.577 trillion recorded the previous day. Similarly, the All-Share Index (ASI) fell by 130.33 points, or 0.12 percent, to close at 105,800.85, compared to 105,931.18 on Tuesday.
Despite the overall bearish sentiment, market breadth closed positive, with 39 gainers outpacing 25 decliners, signaling some level of investor optimism in selected equities.
Leading the gainers’ chart was University Press, which rose by 10 percent to close at N3.74 per share, followed closely by Vitafoam Nigeria Plc, which also gained 10 percent, ending the day at N52.80. Other notable gainers included Livestock Feeds (+9.97% to N8.49), C & I Leasing (+9.89% to N4.00), and McNichols Plc (+9.88% to N1.89).
On the other hand, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated and International Breweries Plc both topped the losers’ chart with a 10 percent drop, closing at N28.80 and N7.38 respectively. Ikeja Hotel Plc declined by 9.89 percent to N12.30, while Cadbury Nigeria shed 9.80 percent, finishing at N29.00. Austin Laz & Company Plc also fell by 9.52 percent to N1.71.
Trading activity was relatively subdued, with a total of 392.99 million shares worth N12.76 billion exchanged in 17,519 deals, compared to the 733.05 million shares valued at N35.29 billion traded in 16,619 deals on Tuesday.
United Bank for Africa (UBA) led the activity chart with 38.86 million shares valued at N1.36 billion, followed by Wema Bank with 26.62 million shares worth N400 million, and Fidelity Bank, which traded 25.39 million shares valued at N525.05 million.
In a related development, the NGX Group earlier announced a profit of N2.1 billion for the first quarter of 2025, underscoring its resilience amid broader market volatility.
