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The Nigerian stock market experienced a reversal from its early trading rally on Thursday, representing a loss of N67 billion in market capitalization by the close of trading.
Investors predominantly sold stocks of PZ Cussons, Wema Bank, and Morison, leading them to the topmost positions among Thursday's major laggards on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX).
Wema Bank's share price dropped from N8.66 to N7.80, losing 86 kobo or 9.93%, while PZ Cussons decreased from N27.30 to N24.60, losing N2.70 or 9.89%. Morison also joined the top laggards league with its share price decreasing from N2.05 to N1.85, down by 20 kobo or 9.76%.
The market has recorded a 4.24% decrease this week, and its negative close on Thursday follows analysts' earlier views that trading in stocks of the 155-member companies would revert to a bearish trend unless there was a major upside in the large-cap counters.
The NGX All Share Index (ASI) declined from the preceding day's high of 101,362.38 points to 101,239.1 points, while the value of listed equities decreased to N55.396 trillion from N55.463 trillion seen on the preceding trading day.
Despite the negative performance, the market's year-to-date (YtD) return remains in the positive region at 35.39%.
In 7,248 deals, investors exchanged 252,997,201 shares worth N4.944 billion. FBN Holdings, UBA, Access Holdings, Prestige Assurance, and Zenith Bank were actively traded stocks.
In the same vein, Seplat Energy Plc, a leading Nigerian energy company listed on the NGX and the London Stock Exchange, announced that it would issue its full year (FY) 2023 audited financial results on Thursday, February 29, 2024. The company's Executive Management team will host a webcast to present the results at 1:00 pm WAT (GMT+1) (Lagos) and 12:00 pm GMT (London) on the same day.
