Equities Market Opens Weak as Investors Lose N20.74bn

The Nigerian equities market opened the quarter on a weak note, with the benchmark index closing 4 basis points lower at 100,020.83 points, as equities investors’ wealth declined by N20.74 billion.

This decline was primarily driven by selloffs in major stocks such as Zenith Bank (-2.54%), UBA (-0.89%), and Transcorp (-0.77%).

Despite positive investor interest in GTCO (+0.33%), FBNH (+5.02%), and AccessCorp (+0.26%), the overall market performance remained subdued.

The year-to-date (YTD) return decreased to 38.28 per cent, and the market capitalization shed N20.74 billion, closing at N56.58 trillion.

Turnover also settled lower relative to the previous session, with the value of transactions moderating by 62.44 per cent.

A total of 274.68 million shares valued at N3.71 billion were exchanged in 10,112 deals.

UCAP (+6.79%) led both the volume and value charts, with 26.64 million units traded in deals worth N737.25 billion.

However, market breadth closed negative at a 0.70-to-1 ratio, with declining issues outnumbering advancing ones. ETranzact (-10.00%) led twenty-six other laggards, while LinkAssure (+10.00%) topped eighteen gainers.

Overall, the market faced a challenging start to the quarter, highlighting the need for investors to remain cautious amid fluctuating market conditions.