Nigeria’s equities market opened the week on a bearish note, with investors losing about ₦1.36 trillion amid renewed profit-taking across key stocks on the Nigerian Exchange Group.
Market capitalisation declined by 0.94 per cent to ₦143.97 trillion, down from ₦145.33 trillion recorded at the close of trading on Friday, reflecting widespread sell-offs.
The NGX All-Share Index also dropped by 2,120.20 basis points to 223,602.29 points, underscoring the negative sentiment that dominated trading.
Losses in major banking and telecom stocks, including Fidelity Bank, United Bank for Africa, Access Holdings, Zenith Bank and MTN Nigeria, dragged the market lower.
Market breadth closed negative, with 40 decliners outweighing 35 gainers, even as the year-to-date return remained relatively strong at 43.69 per cent.
On the gainers’ chart, Abbey Building Society led with a 9.26 per cent rise, followed by Zichis, Wema Bank and NPF Microfinance Bank.
Conversely, TransExpress, UBA and FirstHoldco recorded the highest losses, each shedding up to 10 per cent, while Access Holdings and Fidelity Bank also posted significant declines.
Trading activity weakened, with total volume dropping by 3.57 per cent to 605.23 million shares, while the value of transactions fell by 19.37 per cent to ₦35.89 billion across 77,290 deals.
Despite the downturn, Zenith Bank emerged as the most traded stock, accounting for 63.3 million shares worth ₦8.03 billion, followed by Wema Bank and Access Holdings.
Analysts say the market’s decline reflects short-term profit-taking by investors, with sentiment likely to remain cautious in the near term.
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