On Thursday, at the close of trading session, the Nigerian equities market faced a notable downturn, reflecting persistent bearish sentiment.

The benchmark All-Share Index fell by 0.10 percent, settling at 97,100.36 basis points, and the market capitalization of listed equities decreased by 0.10 percent to N55.13 trillion, resulting in a total market loss of N56.12 billion.

The market’s weak performance was driven by losses in FBN Holdin, Access Holdings, and Transcorp despite gains in Guaranty Trust Holding Company, Zenith Bank, and United Bank for Africa.

Consequently, the market is on track for a weekly decline with the Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date returns settling at -0.7 percent and +29.9 percent, respectively.

The session experienced a severe downturn, with 31 stocks falling sharply compared to only 14 gainers, underscoring a significant bearish trend.

On a positive note, several stocks demonstrated strong performance. Neimeth Pharmaceutical, Total Energies, AIICO Insurance, C&I Leasing, and UPDC emerged as the top gainers, reflecting significant share price increases by 9.55 percent, 8.82 percent, 6.54 percent, 6.07 percent and 4.92 percent, respectively.

Despite the overall negative momentum, some sectors showed resilience. The Banking, Insurance, and Oil/Gas indices recorded modest gains of 0.03 percent, 0.41 percent, and 2.63 percent, respectively.

Conversely, the Consumer Goods sector declined by 0.60 percent, driven by losses in Dangote Sugar, Unilever, Nigerian Breweries, and International Breweries, while the Industrial Goods sector saw a slight drop of 0.004 percent.

Trading activity was subdued on Thursday, with total deals, volume, and value declining significantly by 13.53 percent, 13.97 percent, and 35.71 percent, respectively, to 7,233 deals, 271.26 million units, and N3.52 billion.

In terms of trading volume, Veritas Capital led with 33.38 million units traded in 135 deals, while Guaranty Trust Holding Company topped in traded value with transactions amounting to N725.23 million.

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