News Investigators/ The stock market extended its negative performance on Thursday, as investors’ wealth declined by N958 billion on sustained profit-taking across key medium and large capitalisation stocks.Market capitalisation fell by 0.64 per cent to close at N149.888 trillion, down from N150.846 trillion in the previous session.
Similarly, the All-Share Index (ASI) shed 1,493.71 points, or 0.64 per cent, to settle at 233,580.83, compared with 235,074.54 recorded earlier.
The downturn was largely driven by profit-taking in stocks including Aradel Holdings, Deap Capital Management, Trans-Nationwide Express, Regency Alliance Insurance, C & I Leasing, alongside 29 other decliners.
Market breadth closed negative, with 34 losers against 14 gainers, while the year-to-date return moderated to 50.10 per cent.
On the losers’ chart, Aradel Holdings and Deap Capital Management led with 10 per cent each, closing at N1,575.00 and N4.05 per share respectively.
Trans-Nationwide Express declined by 9.90 per cent to close at N3.64, while Regency Alliance Insurance lost 9.57 per cent to settle at 85 kobo.
C & I Leasing also dipped by 9.48 per cent to end at N5.25 per share.
Conversely, Red Star Express led the gainers’ chart with 9.60 per cent to close at N24.55, followed by Legend Internet which rose 9.09 per cent to N6.00.
Neimeth Pharmaceuticals gained 7.10 per cent to close at N8.30.
Abbey Mortgage Bank appreciated by 5.45 per cent to N8.70, while Ellah Lakes rose 4.65 per cent to N9.00 per share.
Trading activity, however, declined as total volume fell by 19.35 per cent to 393.65 million shares valued at N19.21 billion across 45,813 deals.
Access Holdings led the volume chart with 39.05 million shares, representing 9.92 per cent of total trades, while Lafarge Africa recorded the highest transaction value at N2.25 billion, accounting for 11.70 per cent of total turnover.
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