The Nigerian stock market returned to a bearish note on Wednesday, leaving investors with a loss of N444.32 billion at the end of the day’s trading session on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX).
It rebounded on Tuesday, November 25, halting its six-session downturn as investors heaved a sigh of relief with a N94.47 billion gain.
The positive sentiment reflected investors’ expectations from the 2-day monetary policy committee (MPC) meeting of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), in which the apex bank held the benchmark interest rate at 27 per cent.
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A day after the MPC meeting, however, the bearish sentiment returned to the domestic stock market as the All-Share Index (ASI) declined by -0.49 per cent to 143,064.57 basis points at the close of trading.
Similarly, the overall market capitalisation fell by -49 per cent to N91 trillion, dragging the year-to-date return of the ASI to 39 per cent.
Market data shows that despite 29 stocks gaining against 27 stocks that lost, the market could not sustain a bullish run on the back of persisting sell-off pressure.
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Trading activity was, however, positive, as 738.35 million shares were traded at a value of N35.54 billion in 19,919 deals, higher than the 556.15 million shares valued at N18.71 billion in 19,500 deals that were traded the previous day.
A further look at trading activity shows that Learn Africa, Cadbury Nigeria and Meyer topped the losers’ table, while AIICO Insurance, NCR Nigeria, and Ikeja Hotel were stocks that topped the gainers’ table.
At the close of the day’s trading, Guarantee Trust Holding pulled the highest volume and value of traded stocks with 134.12 million shares at N11.57 billion, respectively.
Pinnacle Daily reported lately that the Nigerian stock market extended losses for the fourth straight week that ended November 21, as selloff pressure persisted on the trading floor of the NGX.
Alex is a business journalist cum data enthusiast with the Pinnacle Daily. He can be reached via ealex@thepinnacleng.com, @ehime_alex on X
