Nigerian Equity Market Loses N101 Billion Amid Profit-Taking

On Wednesday, the Nigerian equity market shed N101 billion amid ongoing profit-taking activities, halting a previous bullish trend. The market capitalization fell to N126.097 trillion from N126.198 trillion, with the NGX share index decreasing by 158.74 points to close at 196,463.22 points.

This negative performance was primarily driven by losses in small and mid-cap stocks, including Oando PLC, Dangote Sugar, and FirstHoldCo. The market breadth showed 22 advancers against 37 decliners, resulting in a year-to-date return of 26.25 percent.

Trading volume declined by 15.499 million shares, representing a 1.89 percent decrease, with 805.250 million shares traded compared to 820.749 million the previous day. The value of transactions also fell by 11.15 percent to N38.419 billion across 71,312 deals.

Premier Paint led the gainers with a 10 percent increase, while Dangote Cement and Jaiz Bank topped the losers with a 10 percent decline.