Nigeria’s stock market remained under pressure on Thursday as persistent profit-taking and widespread selloffs extended the bearish trend, wiping off N958.5 billion from investors’ wealth and dragging key market indicators lower.

The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) All-Share Index (ASI) declined by 0.64 per cent to close at 233,580.83 points, reflecting continued weak investor sentiment and caution across major sectors of the market. The latest decline reduced the market’s year-to-date return to 50.10 per cent.

Market capitalization fell correspondingly from N150.85 trillion to N149.89 trillion, underscoring the sustained retreat in equity valuations as investors continued to lock in gains from previously appreciated stocks.

Thursday’s performance marked another session of losses for the equities market, extending a bearish run that has dominated trading in recent days despite intermittent recovery attempts earlier in the week.

The downturn is attributable to continued profit-taking activities, particularly in large-cap and recently rallied stocks, amid concerns over valuation levels following the market’s strong performance since the beginning of the year.

The market breadth closed firmly negative at 0.4 times, highlighting the dominance of declining stocks. A total of 34 equities recorded price losses against only 14 gainers.

Among the major laggards were DEAP Capital Management, Aradel Holdings, Trans-Nationwide Express, Regal Insurance and C&I Leasing, all of which recorded significant declines. On the positive side, Red Star Express, Legend Internet, Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals, Abbey Mortgage Bank and Ellah Lakes emerged as the session’s top gainers.

Sectoral performance was broadly negative, reflecting widespread selling pressure across the market. The Oil and Gas Index suffered the steepest decline, shedding 5.22 per cent, while the Commodity Index fell 3.36 per cent. Insurance stocks lost 2.59 per cent, Banking stocks declined 0.28 per cent, Consumer Goods slipped 0.06 per cent, while the Industrial Goods Index closed marginally lower by 0.004 per cent.

Trading activity also weakened considerably as investors adopted a cautious stance. Total volume traded dropped by 19.35 per cent to 393.65 million shares from 488.08 million shares recorded in the previous session.

Similarly, market turnover declined by 8.19 per cent to N19.21 billion from N20.93 billion, while the number of deals fell slightly by 0.92 per cent to 45,813 transactions from 46,239 transactions.

Despite the current bearish momentum, analysts believe bargain hunting could emerge in the near term as investors reposition into fundamentally strong counters trading at attractive valuations. However, they cautioned that continued profit-taking in stocks that have delivered substantial gains this year may moderate the pace of any rebound.

The market’s ability to regain positive momentum, they said, will depend largely on renewed institutional participation and investor confidence in corporate earnings prospects during the second half of the year.

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