NGX Falls 0.28% as Insurance and Banking Stocks Lead Losses
By Aboki Forex —
The Nigerian Exchange All-Share Index shed 701.53 points on Wednesday, October 1, closing at 251,211.67 points as pressure on insurance and banking stocks dragged the market lower. The decline wiped N426 billion off market capitalisation.
The index had closed the previous session at 251,913.20 points. Market capitalisation fell to N163.105 trillion from N163.531 trillion.
Financials lead the decline
The NGX Insurance Index led the losers with a 1.01% drop. The NGX Banking Index followed, down 0.58%.
Other sectors closed in the green. The NGX Industrial Goods Index gained 0.66%, while the NGX Consumer Goods Index and the NGX Energy Index both rose 0.04%.
Market breadth stayed negative. The exchange recorded 28 losers against 25 gainers, a sign of weak investor sentiment.
Top decliners and gainers
Learn Africa posted the steepest fall, down 10.00% to N7.65. Thomas Wyatt declined 9.80% to N2.67. Sovereign Trust Insurance dropped 6.78% to N2.20, while Guinea Insurance fell 6.67% to 70 kobo. Fidelity Bank edged down 0.07% to N7.12.
On the gainers side, Haldane McCall rose 10.00% to N3.41. CMFC climbed 9.92% to N4.32. Cornerstone Insurance added 9.80% to N5.60, Livingtrust Mortgage Bank advanced 9.79% to N3.14, and ABC Transport gained 9.76% to N6.75.
Trading activity picks up
A total of 1.0 billion shares worth N53.6 billion changed hands in 44,469 deals.
VFD Group led the volume chart with 367.3 million shares valued at N4.9 billion. UAC Nigeria traded 158.2 million shares worth N21.5 billion. Abbey Bank exchanged 72.4 million shares valued at N507.1 million, Chams traded 63.9 million shares worth N199.8 million, and GTCO recorded 39.6 million shares valued at N5.3 billion.
Trading volume and value rose 82.85% and 56.27% respectively compared with Tuesday. The number of deals, however, declined 5.99%.
The session shows money moving through the market even as prices weaken. For investors watching the naira and Nigerian equities, the wider spread between volume and deal count suggests bigger blocks are trading, while the negative breadth points to caution among retail participants.