The Nigerian Exchange could not sustain its earlier positive momentum of the past trading days on Wednesday as losses in key Banking and Consumer Goods stocks; such as GTCO (-1.74%), UBA (-2.58%), and UNILEVER (-9.75%) weighed down on the NGX All-Share Index (NGXASI), which declined by 0.18%.
This decline resulted in N119.22 billion loss to investors and reduced the local bourse’s overall capitalization to N65.47 trillion.
Available data from the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) on the day’s trading session reflected that sectoral performance was mixed, with three out of five sectors closing red.
The Banking index emerged the worst performing index, declining by 1.60% due to declines in FIDELITYBK (-3.24%), FBNH (-2.38%), GTCO (-1.74%), and UBA (-2.58%) followed by the Consumer Goods index, which lost 0.23% based on losses in PZ (-9.88%), UNILEVER (-9.75%), and INTBREW (-0.60%). The Industrial Goods sector index also closed lower, losing 0.04%, weighed by WAPCO (-0.35%).
Conversely, the Insurance sector led the gainers, gaining 2.67% based on strong performances in WAPIC (9.60%), NEM (9.32%), REGALINS (7.84%), and UNIVINSURE (6.38%) just as the Oil and Gas index also recorded a modest gain of 0.47%, buoyed by gains in OANDO (6.58%) and JAPAULGOLD (4.35%).
On the volume and value of stocks traded, GTCO dominated both the volume and value charts, accounting for 16.70% of total market volume with 62.88 million units valued at N4.09 billion. Even then, its share price declined by (-1.74%) to close at N64.80.
Also, data from the fixed income space showed that the bond market remained largely muted in the previous trading session while on the foreign exchange (FX) market, the Naira appreciated slightly against the US dollar, closing at N1,611.55/$1 at the close of trading.
Meanwhile, the global crude oil prices extended its decline by 1.46% to settle at $62.82 per barrel, amid rising geopolitical tensions occasioned by the U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff measures to unsettle market expectations.
Despite potential supply risks, weakening global demand weighed on the crude oil overall sentiment, resulting in the slight pullback.
