NGX – The local stock market experienced another day of decline on Thursday, resulting in investors losing N112 billion by the close of trading.
This followed a previous day’s loss of N27 billion when trading activities slowed down as the nation awaited the decision of the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal, which eventually affirmed President Bola Tinubu’s victory in the February polls.
On Thursday, market conditions worsened as the loss expanded to N112 billion, with the market capitalization decreasing by 0.29 percent to settle at N37.261 trillion.
The NGX All-Share Index dropped by 204.17 basis points to close at 68,082.11.
Market activity sees increased share value
Although the volume of shares traded reduced to 378.089 million, the value of these shares increased to N8.38 billion, compared to the previous trading figure of N5.48 billion.
These shares were exchanged in 8,106 deals.
Market sentiments were largely negative, with 30 losers and 25 winners. Among the losers were Nestle, which saw a 1.39 percent decrease in its share value, Zenith Bank, which lost 0.14 percent, NASCON, which experienced a 6.83 percent dip, and Dangote Sugar, which declined by 3.98 percent.
Notably, both Dangote Sugar and NASCON Allied Industries are currently in the process of merging with Dangote Rice Limited.
Analysts from asset management firm Meristem projected that the price of shares of the new entity resulting from the merger would likely range between N60 and N70.
On the other hand, Betaglas led the gainers’ table with a 9.97 percent increase in share value, followed by Cadbury at 9.86 percent, Computer Warehouse Group at 9.81 percent, Tantalizer with a 9.52 percent gain, and Guinea Insurance, which gained 9.09 percent.
Among the top traded stocks were Oando, Omatek, Dangote Sugar, Fidelity Bank, and Accesscorp, with significant trading volumes and values, reflecting continued market activity despite the overall decline.