The stock market reversed its gain on Wednesday, losing N148 billion or 0.25 per cent amid selling pressure in several key stocks.
The decline was primarily driven by selloffs in Aradel Holdings, Zenith Bank, FBN Holdings, Access Corporation, and Fidelity Bank, among others.
As a result, the market capitalisation, which opened at N59.707 trillion, dropped by N148 billion to close at N59.559 trillion.
Similarly, the All-Share Index declined by 0.25 per cent, shedding 249.4 points to close at 98,291.53, compared to 98,540.93 recorded on Tuesday.
Consequently, the Year-To-Date (YTD) return fell to 31.45 per cent.
However, market breadth remained flat, with 23 gainers and 23 losers on the Exchange.
Custodian & Allied Plc led the losers chart by N1.15 to close at N11.65, Okomu Oil trailed by N24.90 to close at N338.10 per share.
Consolidated Hallmark Plc lost 10k to close at N1.41, Aradel dropped N48 to close at N820, while McNichols shed 7k to close at N1.35 per share.
On the gainers’ chart, Deap Capital Management and Trust Plc led by 12k to close at N1.32, UACN followed by N1.95 to close at N21.65 per share.
Dangote Sugar gained N3.10 to close at N35.10, Champion appreciated by 33k to close at N3.75, while Daar Communications added 5k to close at 59k per share.
Analysis of the market activities showed trade turnover settled lower relative to the previous session, with the value of transactions down 66.46 per cent.
A total of 257.55 million shares valued at N9 billion were exchanged in 7,776 deals, against 286.04 million shares valued at N26.82 billion traded by investors in 9,650 deals previously.
Fidelity Bank led the activity chart in volume with 38.21 million, while Aradel Holdings led in value of deals worth N3.15 billion.
