The Nigerian Stock Exchange on Tuesday recorded a significant dip as investors lost N166bn in market value, following the drop in Nigeria’s headline inflation to 24.48 per cent in January 2025.

The latest inflation figure, announced by the National Bureau of Statistics, marked a decline from the 34.80 per cent recorded in December 2024, attributed to the rebasing of the Consumer Price Index.

At the close of trading, the NGX All-Share Index fell by 266.76 points, representing a 0.25 per cent decline to settle at 107,670.98. Despite this drop, the market posted a one-week gain of 1.03 per cent, a four-week gain of 4.4 per cent, and a year-to-date gain of 4.61 per cent.

The total market capitalisation of the Nigerian Stock Exchange stands at N67.2tn.

A total of 408,719,063 shares were traded in 14,174 deals, amounting to a turnover of N11.26bn. Compared to the previous trading day, today’s data reflects a 20 per cent decline in trading volume, a 12 per cent decrease in turnover, and a 17 per cent drop in the number of deals executed.

In total, 125 NGX-listed equities participated in trading, with 16 gainers and 40 losers.

Consolidated Hallmark Holdings led the gainers with a remarkable 9.76 per cent increase in share price, closing at N3.71 per share. It was followed by Sunu Assurances Nigeria, which saw a 9.58 per cent rise to N6.52. Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals also recorded an 8.77 per cent gain, ending at N3.35 per share. In comparison, Cornerstone Insurance Company posted a 7.03 per cent gain, closing at N3.35.

On the other hand, the losing side was dominated by The Initiates, which saw its share price fall by 9.89 per cent, closing at N4.01. Union Dicon Salt followed with a 9.82 per cent drop to N7.35, while UPDC fell by 9.09 per cent, closing at N3.10. Cadbury Nigeria also recorded a significant loss, dropping 9.06 per cent to close at N29.10.

In terms of trading volume, Access Holdings recorded the highest volume with 54.8 million shares traded, followed by United Bank for Africa with 31.4 million shares. Guinness Nigeria and Fidelity Bank also featured as the top volume leaders, with 30.3 million and 19.9 million shares traded, respectively.

The market indices reflected the broader market trend, with the Top 30 Index shedding 0.24 per cent, while the Insurance Index bucked the trend with a 2.63 per cent gain. Other indices like the NGX Main Board, Industrial, Oil & Gas, and Consumer Goods Index also recorded declines, with the Oil & Gas Index seeing the sharpest drop at -0.24 per cent.

The PUNCH reported that the Nigerian equity market kicked off the week negatively, shedding N72bn in market capitalisation at the close of trading on Monday.