Equities trading on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange Limited maintained its bearish trend for the third day on Thursday; with the market index NGX ASI dipping 0.01 percent to close at 97,477.19 points.
Consequently, the market capitalisation of listed stocks also declined by 0.01 percent, closing at ₦56.01 trillion and causing a ₦5.7 billion loss for investors amid sell-offs.
Despite the negative sentiment, 23 stocks recorded gains, outpacing 22 decliners. Top gainers included REGALINS up by 10.00 percent, CAVERTON 9.73 percent, ROYALEX 8.70 percent, ABCTRANS 8.20 percent, and UPL 7.14 percent. On the losing side, DAARCOM, LIVESTOCK, SUNUASSUR, FIDSON, and CONHALLPLC saw their share prices drop by 10.00 percent, 9.88 percent, 9.71 percent, 9.71 percent, and 9.29 percent, respectively.
Sectoral performance was largely negative, with declines in the banking, consumer goods, and oil/gas sector losing at 0.22 percent, 0.05 percent 0.13 percent respectively, while the insurance and industrial goods sectors remained unchanged.
The overall bearish sentiment dampened trading activity, with the number of deals, volume, and value decreasing by 17.37 percent, 22.01 percent, and 33.07 percent, respectively, resulting in 277.75 million shares worth ₦4.65 billion traded across 7,091 deals. FIDELITYBK led by volume, with 43.3 million units worth ₦644.8 million exchanged across 190 deals, while ZENITHBANK was the top stock by value.
