By Seun Ibiyemi
Trading on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) started the new month on a negative trajectory, with profit-taking in banking, industrial, and oil & gas stocks pulling the market down by 0.41 percent on Monday.
The All-Share Index (ASI) closed at 139,722.19 points, down from 140,557.24 points, while market capitalisation declined by N528 billion to N88.406 trillion. This drop further tempered the year-to-date return to 35.75 percent.
Sectoral performance reflected broad-based losses, with all indices finishing in the red. The NGX Banking Index suffered the steepest fall of 1.12 percent, followed by Industrial stocks at 0.85 percent and Oil & Gas at 0.45 percent.
Among the notable laggards were Eterna Plc, Ellah Lakes, and Chams, which outweighed gains from stocks including SCOA, Cornerstone Insurance, and Guinea Insurance.
Market activity remained robust, with investors exchanging 407.98 million shares valued at N14.78 billion across 33,859 deals.