The Nigerian stock market recorded a decline, shedding N476.0bn in one week as investors traded a total of 1.818bn shares worth N47.226bn in 64,222 deals.
This represents a slight drop compared to the 1.848bn shares valued at N51.387bn exchanged in 63,090 deals the previous week.
Market capitalisation fell by 0.71 per cent to N66.717tn from the previous week’s level, while the All-Share Index dropped by 1.19 per cent to close at 106,538.60 points, reflecting a broad decline across major indices.
The Financial Services Industry maintained its dominance on the activity chart, leading by volume with 1.260bn shares worth N27.817bn traded in 29,800 deals. This accounted for 69.31 per cent and 58.90 per cent of the total equity turnover volume and value, respectively. The consumer goods industry followed, with 123.336m shares worth N3.069bn traded in 7,793 deals, while the services industry recorded 118.931m shares valued at N832.602m in 3,730 deals.
Zenith Bank Plc, Fidelity Bank Plc, and Access Holdings Plc were the most actively traded stocks, accounting for 451.558m shares worth N13.583bn in 10,055 deals. This represented 24.84 per cent of total turnover volume and 28.76 per cent of market value.
A total of 56,372 Exchange Traded Products valued at N6.280m were traded in 99 deals, compared to 42,786 units worth N16.133m recorded the previous week in 81 deals. Similarly, 73,802 units of bonds valued at N75.768m were traded in 31 deals, significantly lower than 346,089 units worth N351.766m exchanged in 34 deals in the prior week.
The market breadth showed a mixed performance, as 30 equities appreciated, up from 27 in the previous week. However, 58 equities declined, slightly lower than the 60 recorded the previous week, while 62 stocks remained unchanged, compared to 63 a week earlier.
Despite the overall decline, the ASeM and Commodity indices posted gains of 0.04 per cent and 0.19 per cent, respectively, while all other indices closed lower, reflecting broad-based profit-taking and weak investor sentiment in the equities market.
The PUNCH reported that the Nigerian Exchange recorded its first gain in March as renewed investor interest drove the market capitalisation up by N216bn.
