Trading on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) closed on a bearish note on Tuesday as profit-taking in blue-chip equities weighed on market performance, pushing key indicators into negative territory.

Data from the Daily Official List showed that the benchmark All-Share Index (ASI) declined by 1,130.87 points, representing a 0.57 per cent drop, to close at 196,066.09 points compared with 197,196.98 points recorded in the previous trading session. Consequently, the market’s year-to-date return moderated to 26.00 per cent.

In the same vein, market capitalisation fell by 0.57 per cent, shedding about N725 billion to close at N125.86 trillion from N126.58 trillion previously, reflecting the broad sell-off across major sectors of the market.

Investor sentiment remained largely negative during the session, as market breadth closed with 33 gainers against 42 decliners, indicating that more stocks recorded price declines.

On the gainers’ chart, Prempaints Plc, Sunu Assurance Plc, Conoil Plc, Daar Communications Plc and Eterna Plc emerged as the top performers. Conversely, Mutual Benefits Assurance Plc, Fortis Global Insurance Plc, Red Star Express Plc, Austin Laz & Company Plc and SCOA Nigeria Plc recorded the steepest losses.

Sectoral performance also reflected the bearish sentiment as most indices closed lower. The Banking Index declined by 0.48 per cent, while the Consumer Goods and Oil & Gas indices each dipped by 0.29 per cent. The Industrial Goods Index posted the largest sectoral decline, falling by 0.71 per cent.

However, the Insurance Index recorded a marginal gain of 0.04 per cent, suggesting mild bargain hunting in insurance counters following recent price corrections. The Commodity Index closed unchanged.

Further analysis of market indicators showed that the NGX 30 Index, which tracks the 30 most capitalised companies on the exchange, fell to 7,098.29 points from 7,139.00 points recorded in the previous session.

Similarly, the NGX Premium Index slipped to 21,734.37 points from 21,977.58 points, reflecting selling pressure on blue-chip stocks listed on the Premium Board.

The NGX Banking Index also eased to 1,868.87 points from 1,877.89 points, while the NGX Pension Index declined to 9,601.14 points from 9,654.58 points. The NGX Corporate Governance Index fell to 5,496.49 points from 5,540.99 points, highlighting declines among companies with strong governance ratings and steady dividend histories.

Across sectoral gauges, the NGX Consumer Goods Index dipped slightly to 4,379.36 points from 4,392.02 points, while the Industrial Index fell to 7,545.37 points from 7,599.07 points due to price adjustments in heavyweight manufacturing stocks.

Trading activity also weakened during the session. The number of deals declined by 25.04 per cent to 64,829 trades, while traded volume fell by 2.57 per cent to 734.5 million shares. The total value of transactions dropped by 11.74 per cent to N27.56 billion, reflecting a more cautious approach by investors.

Market analysts attributed the decline largely to profit-taking following recent gains that pushed the market close to historic highs. They noted that many investors opted to lock in profits while selectively positioning in stocks with attractive earnings prospects and dividend yields.

Despite Tuesday’s downturn, analysts said the market remains near record levels and expect trading to remain mixed in the near term as investors react to corporate earnings expectations, dividend declarations and broader macroeconomic developments.

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