The Nigerian equity market continued its downward spiral, sustaining losses for the second consecutive day this week, with a staggering N730 billion decrease in value.
The previous day, market giants Dangote Cement and MTN Nigeria had contributed to a N1.82 trillion loss, setting the tone for continued decline.
Tuesday saw the benchmark index, the All-Share Index, and the market cap decline by 1.30 per cent to 101,060.67 points and N55.298 trillion, respectively. This downturn pushed the market's year-to-date return further down to 35.16 per cent from 36.94 per cent the previous day.
The bearish trend was primarily driven by sell-offs in medium to penny stocks, with eight equities recording gains while a staggering 43 suffered losses.
Leading the gainers were stocks of Juli Plc, Eterna Plc, and VeritasKap, which rose by 9.94 per cent, 6.17 per cent, and 5.97 per cent, respectively.
On the flip side, Honeywell Flour Mills topped the losers' chart with a 10 per cent loss, followed by BUA Cement shedding 9.98 per cent, and PZ Cussons dipping by 9.75 per cent due to its negative asset value report in its half-year report.
Trading activity also saw a significant decline, with total deals falling by 9.34 per cent, totaling 8,783 trades. Similarly, the total volume and value experienced declines of 6.46 per cent and 10.90 per cent, amounting to 256.16 million units and N6.63 billion, respectively.
In terms of sectoral performance, four out of the five sectoral sub-indexes closed in the red zone, with only the Oil & Gas sector showing gains, driven by Eterna Plc.
The most traded securities in terms of volume and value were United Bank for Africa and Geregu Power, respectively, with Transcorp Plc leading in terms of volume with 39.75 million units traded.
As the equity market grapples with continued volatility and downward pressure, investors remain cautious, navigating the market with careful consideration amidst the prevailing economic uncertainties.
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