By Taiye Olayemi
The Nigerian stock market wrapped up the week in chaos as investors watched ₦48 billion evaporate in a single trading session. Nigeria: Nigerian fashion.
The market, gripped by a wave of aggressive sell-offs, saw its capitalisation drop from ₦70.510 trillion on Thursday to ₦70.462 trillion by Friday’s close, reflecting a 0.07 per cent plunge.
The All-Share Index (ASI) wasn’t spared either, dipping by 76.07 points to settle at 111,742.01, down from 111,818.08 in the previous session.
The loss was driven by major dump-offs in blue-chip stocks, including Beta Glass, NCR Nigeria, Conoil, and Legend Internet, which all suffered near-10 per cent losses, dragging the entire market down with them.Nigeria: Nigerian fashion
Market sentiment remained largely negative, with 37 stocks declining while only 28 managed to edge upward. Beta Glass and NCR Nigeria both nosedived by 10 per cent, closing at ₦232.65 and ₦6.57 respectively. Conoil wasn’t far behind, plunging by 9.99 per cent to ₦298.10, while Legend Internet crashed by 9.94 per cent, closing at ₦6.16. Industrial Medical Gases also joined the rout, shedding 9.91 per cent to finish the day at ₦33.65 per share.
However, a few bright spots offered a sliver of hope. Omatek surged by 9.86 per cent to close at 78k, Red Star Express climbed by 9.62 per cent to ₦8.32, and Deap Capital Management advanced by 9.38 per cent to ₦1.05. Sovereign Trust Insurance also rose by 9.09 per cent to end at ₦1.08, while May & Baker appreciated by 8.26 per cent, closing at ₦11.80 per share.
Despite the bearish mood, trading activity exploded with 1.90 billion shares worth ₦64.14 billion changing hands across 18,653 deals, a significant leap from Thursday’s 556.45 million shares valued at ₦17.17 billion in 18,505 deals.
United Bank for Africa stole the spotlight on the activity chart, commanding an overwhelming 1.41 billion shares traded for ₦49.02 billion. United Capital followed with 66.84 million shares worth ₦1.32 billion, while Access Corporation, Fidelity Bank, and Zenith Bank also posted robust trading figures.