Panic gripped the trading floor on Wednesday as a wave of sell-offs wiped a hefty N70 billion from the Nigerian stock market in a single session, leaving investors rattled.
The All-Share Index of the Nigerian Exchange Ltd. (NGX) dropped by 111.37 points, representing a 0.10% decline. Market capitalisation fell to N68.895 trillion from Tuesday’s N68.965 trillion a stark reminder of the market’s inherent volatility.
The downturn was largely driven by aggressive sell-offs in banking stocks and growing investor caution, which inflicted noticeable damage across portfolios.
Despite the bearish sentiment, the market breadth was evenly split, with 29 stocks posting gains and 29 recording losses in a day of sharp price swings.
Among the top gainers, RT Briscoe led the charge with a 10% jump to N2.09. Eunisell Interlinked Plc rose 9.75% to close at N12.95, Livestock Feeds climbed 9.61% to N8.90, and Meyer Plc advanced 8.89% to N9.80.
On the flip side, Champion Breweries and Lasaco Insurance both slumped by 10%, ending at N7.20 and N2.52, respectively. McNicholas fell 9.45%, while Multiverse Mining declined 7.22% to N9.
Despite the negative performance, trading activity remained strong. Over 664.16 million shares worth close to N13 billion exchanged hands across more than 19,000 deals.
Japaul Gold led the activity chart with 90.02 million shares traded, valued at N186.47 million. Tantalizer followed with 82.75 million shares worth N231 million, while Fidelity Bank recorded significant turnover with 67.69 million shares exchanged at a total value of N1.26 billion.