Nigeria’s equities market extended its recent decline on Monday as widespread profit-taking in blue-chip stocks pushed the benchmark index down 1.6 percent, with heavyweight telecom and consumer stocks leading the sell-off.
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) All-Share Index (ASI) fell to 228,401.92 points, extending the market’s losing streak as investors continued to lock in gains following months of strong rallies.
The latest decline reduced the market’s month-to-date return to a negative 8.8 percent, while the year-to-date gain moderated to 46.8 percent.
Market heavyweight MTN Nigeria plunged the maximum daily limit of 10 percent, exerting the greatest pressure on the benchmark index. Unilever Nigeria also fell 10 percent, while Lafarge Africa declined 2.3 percent and First HoldCo lost 2.5 percent.
Despite the weaker market, trading activity increased sharply as investors exchanged 996.47 million shares worth 43.73 billion naira (about US$28.6 million) in 61,813 deals, representing a 156.4 percent rise in trading volume from the previous session.
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Ikeja Hotel was the most actively traded stock, with 305.54 million shares valued at 13.21 billion naira (about US$8.6 million) changing hands, signalling continued institutional interest in selected counters despite the broader market weakness.
The decline was broad-based, with all major sectoral indices closing lower.
The insurance index posted the steepest fall, losing 1.3 percent, followed by the banking index, which dropped 1.2 percent. The consumer goods index fell 0.6 percent, while the industrial goods index declined 0.4 percent. The oil and gas index edged down 0.1 percent.
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Market breadth remained negative, with only 12 stocks posting gains against 45 decliners, reflecting weak investor sentiment across the exchange.
Learn Africa joined MTN Nigeria among the day’s biggest losers after both stocks dropped the maximum 10 percent. On the upside, UPDC rose 9.2 percent to top the gainers’ chart, while Sovereign Trust Insurance advanced 4.1 percent.
Market analysts attributed the latest losses to sustained profit-taking in fundamentally strong stocks after the market’s exceptional performance during the first half of the year.
They said investors were increasingly taking profits amid concerns over elevated valuations and ahead of the release of second-quarter and half-year corporate earnings.
Analysts expect bargain hunting to emerge in fundamentally sound stocks if prices continue to ease, although near-term market direction is likely to remain influenced by institutional portfolio rebalancing and investor positioning ahead of upcoming earnings announcements.
