The local equities market witnessed a reversal in gains from the previous session as overall capitalization dropped by N183 billion due to selloffs in major stocks, including Guinness Nigeria and PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc.
The All-Share Index (ASI) experienced a decline of 0.33%, losing 334.62 points to close at 101,707.70 points. Similarly, market capitalization decreased by N183 billion to settle at N55.653 trillion. The downturn was fueled by price depreciation in large and medium-capitalized stocks, including Zenith Bank, Nigerian Breweries, and United Bank for Africa (UBA).
Market sentiment, measured by market breadth, was negative, with 24 stocks gaining relative to 29 losers. Honeywell Flour Mills emerged as the highest price gainer, climbing by 9.92% to close at N4.32 per share. Juli followed with a gain of 9.90%, closing at N1.11, while Cornerstone Insurance rose by 9.88% to finish at N2.67 per share.
On the flip side, PZ Cussons Nigeria led the losers’ chart with a 9.87% decline to close at N25.10, followed by Morison Industries, which dropped by 9.84% to N2.75 per share. eTranzact International and CWG both lost 9.70%, closing at N6.05 each, while Sovereign Trust Insurance shed 9.62% to close at 47 kobo per share.
The total volume traded increased by 8.56% to 263.192 million units, valued at N4.301 billion, across 8,614 deals. Veritas Kapital Assurance dominated the activity with 49.075 million shares worth N39.009 million. UBA followed closely with 24.342 million shares valued at N587.502 million, while Fidelity Bank traded 20.075 million shares worth N217.331 million. Transnational Corporations (Transcorp) and Zenith Bank also recorded substantial trading volumes during the session.