Equity investors on Tuesday lost about N1.88 trillion as renewed selling pressure in MTN Nigeria, First HoldCo, AccessCorp, GTCO and other major stocks dragged the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) lower.
The NGX All-Share Index (ASI) declined by 1.17 percent, shedding 2,897.67 points to close at 244,802.11, while the year-to-date return moderated to 57.31 percent.
The decline was largely driven by losses in the banking sector, as investors appeared to engage in profit-taking on medium- and large-cap stocks that had recorded significant gains in recent sessions.
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Consequently, market capitalisation fell by N1.88 trillion to close at N158.72 trillion.
Market activity, however, strengthened during the session. Total volume of transactions rose by 84.67 percent, while turnover increased by 2.09 percent. The exchange recorded 54,051 deals involving 753.17 million shares valued at N27.82 billion.
NEM Insurance emerged as the most actively traded stock by volume, accounting for 17.63 percent of total units traded. It was followed by MBENEFIT with 11.80 percent, STERLINGNG with 5.47 percent, ACCESSCORP with 4.94 percent and CONHALLPLC with 4.75 percent.
NEM Insurance also dominated trading by value, accounting for 14.67 percent of total transaction value during the session.
On the gainers' chart, ELLAHLAKES led with a 7.07 percent appreciation, followed by NGXGROUP, which gained 1.38 percent. LEARNAFRCA rose by 1.16 percent, while WEMABANK advanced 0.68 percent.
However, market sentiment remained firmly negative, with 61 stocks recording price declines against just four gainers.
AVACAP recorded the steepest decline, falling 10.00 percent. FTGINSURE followed with a 9.89 percent loss, while ABBEYBANK declined 9.74 percent. CMFC shed 9.66 percent, FIRSTHOLDCO dropped 9.30 percent and ROYALEX fell 9.09 percent.
Sectoral performance was mixed. The Consumer Goods sector gained 0.49 percent, while the Oil/Gas and Commodity sectors advanced 5.76 percent and 4.04 percent, respectively.
On the other hand, the Banking sector suffered the biggest decline, falling 5.29 percent. The Insurance sector also dropped 4.38 percent, while the Industrial Goods sector declined 0.64 percent.
