The Nigerian equities market closed on a bearish note following a wave of widespread profit-taking by investors looking to lock in profits from recent gains.
According to data seen by NewsDirect, the benchmark All-Share Index (ASI) declined by 0.64%, pulling the year-to-date (YTD) return down to 50.10%.
The bearish sentiment was mirrored by a notable slowdown in market participation, with both trading volume and value suffering significant contractions.
This is as the total volume of shares traded plummeted by 24.69% to land at 393.60 million shares, while the total financial value of transactions experienced an 8.06% drop to close at ₦19.36 billion.
Market breadth heavily favored the bears, as 39 decliners easily outpaced 18 gainers, underscoring a broad-based selling pressure across the trading floor.
Sector-specific performance was overwhelmingly negative, with the Oil & Gas Index suffering the heaviest blow by plunging 5.22%. Despite the overall downward trend, several corporate tickers stood out for their high activity and price movements.
ACCESSCORP emerged as the most actively traded stock by volume, moving 39.05 million shares, while WAPCO led the market in financial turnover with transactions worth approximately ₦2.25 billion.
On the moving charts, LEGENDINT and NEIMETH anchored the gainers with the strongest price appreciation of the session, whereas DEAPCAP and ARADEL suffered the steepest losses to top the decliners’ list.