Trading on Thursday closed on a bearish note as equities on the Nigerian bourse extended their downward trajectory, reflecting cautious investor sentiment and persistent profit-taking across key sectors.

Official data from the Daily Official List shows the All-Share Index slipped to 193,567.81, while market capitalisation moderated to N124.24tn, shaving N514bn from investors’ value.

The PUNCH reports that analysts have projected a mixed market performance as participants in the market engage in profit-taking and reposition their portfolios in the earnings season.

Sectoral performance revealed mixed but predominantly negative movements. The consumer goods sector recorded marginal weakness as investors trimmed positions in bellwether counters.

Industrial stocks posted the steepest decline among tracked sectors, pressured by selling in heavyweight manufacturing names.

The banking index also retreated amid profit-taking after earlier gains this week, while Insurance equities continued to trade soft, reflecting subdued liquidity.

Conversely, the oil and gas sector bucked the broader market trend, posting a modest uptick of 0.12 per cent, supported by selective buying interest.

Expectedly, market breadth was bearish, with 38 declining stocks outpacing 30 advancing counters. FTN Cocoa (+10 per cent), RT Briscoe (+9.95 per cent), DEAPCAP (+9.92 per cent), JapaulGold (+9.91 per cent), and Ellahlakes (+9.72 per cent) led the gainers, while Jaiz Bank (-9.98 per cent), Ikeja Hotel and John Holt (-9.90 per cent), Enamelware’s shares dipped 9.98 per cent, and Cadbury’s shares ended up also declining 9.69 per cent.

Compared to the previous day, trading activity weakened across metrics as share volume slid 36.01 per cent to 868.54 million units, transaction value decreased 30.58 per cent to N31.48bn, and deal count fell about 0.48 per cent to 69,310 transactions.

This is the third consecutive day of bearish trading on the NGX following weeks of a bullish run.