The Nigerian equities market closed in the red on Thursday ahead of the Easter holidays, as sell-offs in 24 listed firms wiped out about N3 billion in market value.
Stocks such as John Holt, Abbey Mortgage Bank, International Energy Insurance, CHAMS, and Tantalizers were among the key drivers of the downturn, as investors offloaded shares.
At the close of trading, market capitalization slipped marginally by 0.002 percent, declining from N129.809 trillion at the opening to N129.806 trillion.
Similarly, the All-Share Index shed 4.66 points, or 0.002 percent, to settle at 201,698.89, down from 201,703.55 recorded in the previous session. Despite the dip, the market maintained a year-to-date return of 29.62 percent.
Market breadth, however, remained positive, with 34 gainers compared to 24 losers.
On the gainers’ table, Unilever Nigeria Plc led with a 10 per cent increase to close at N103.40 per share. It was followed by Fortis Global Insurance, Multiverse Mining, Legend Internet, and Zichis Agro Allied Industries.
Conversely, John Holt recorded the steepest decline, dropping by 9.91 percent to close at N15.45 per share. Abbey Mortgage Bank, International Energy Insurance, CHAMS, and Tantalizers also posted notable losses.
Trading activity weakened during the session, with total volume traded falling by 31.33 per cent to 559.98 million shares. The transactions were valued at N19.26 billion across 49,676 deals.
Secure Electronic Technology led the volume chart with 59.69 million shares, accounting for 10.66 per cent of total trades, while Zenith Bank dominated the value chart with transactions worth N2.47 billion, representing 12.84 per cent of the total market value.
