The Nigerian equities market closed lower on Wednesday, with investors selling across major sectors and driving market capitalisation down by more than N1.76 trillion.
The benchmark NGX All-Share Index fell to 243,967.09 points from 246,723.57 points recorded on Tuesday.
Overall equity market capitalisation declined to N157.49 trillion as the market extended its downward movement after reaching a weekly high of 248,529.75 points on Monday.
The decline came against a monetary policy backdrop in which the Central Bank of Nigeria maintained its Monetary Policy Rate at 26.50%.
Major market indices also closed lower, reflecting broad-based selling pressure across large-cap and sector-specific stocks.
The NGX 30 Index declined to 8,941.01 points, while the NGX Premium Index fell to 28,733.69 points.
The NGX Main Board Index also dropped from 11,133.93 points on Tuesday to 10,962.60 points.
Consumer goods stocks recorded some of the sharpest losses during the session, with the NGX Consumer Goods Index falling to 4,106.48 points from 4,319.51 points.
BUA Foods Plc recorded the maximum daily loss of 10% to close at N760.60 per share, while Unilever Nigeria Plc declined by 9.97% to N131.40.
Banking stocks also came under pressure, with the NGX Banking Index falling to 2,560.67 points.
Access Holdings Plc declined by 3.01% to N27.40, while United Bank for Africa Plc fell 2.15% to N45.45.
Zenith Bank Plc lost 1.34% to close at N124.80, while Fidelity Bank Plc declined by 2.27% to N21.50 per share.
However, some banking stocks bucked the broader decline.
Ecobank Transnational Incorporated emerged as one of the session’s strongest performers, gaining 9.93% to close at N71.40.
Jaiz Bank Plc advanced 2.33% to N8.80, while Wema Bank Plc gained 1.58% to N28.95.
Insurance stocks provided some support to the market, with the NGX Insurance Index rising to 1,152.13 points from 1,144.06 points.
International Energy Insurance Plc led the gains in the sector, climbing 10% to N4.40.
Cornerstone Insurance Plc gained 6.80% to N5.50, while Veritas Kapital Assurance Plc and Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc rose 6.25% and 4.21% to close at N1.36 and N1.98, respectively.
Industrial goods stocks recorded mixed performance.
Dangote Cement Plc remained unchanged at N1,034.00, while HBM Nigeria Plc declined 2.48% to N350.00.
The mixed performance dragged the NGX Industrial Index down to 10,457.71 points.
In the oil and gas sector, Seplat Energy Plc and Aradel Holdings Plc closed unchanged at N11,363.90 and N1,526.80, respectively.
Eterna Plc, however, gained 1.39% to close at N36.50.
Trading activity remained strong, with investors executing 39,031 deals involving more than 1.45 billion shares.
The insurance sector recorded particularly heavy trading volume, led by Fortis Global Insurance Plc, which traded more than 853 million shares.
Universal Insurance Plc followed with more than 251 million shares traded.
Chams Holding Company Plc also contributed significant activity to the ICT sector, recording nearly 40 million traded shares.
On the Growth Board, waste management company The Initiates Plc gained 2.29% to close at N26.80, with 3.8 million shares changing hands.
Exchange-traded funds recorded 862 trades involving 391,023 units. The Stanbic IBTC ETF 30 gained 6.95% to close at N2,299.98 per unit.
Activity remained subdued in the fixed-income segment of the Nigerian Exchange, with fixed-rate sovereign and corporate bonds recording virtually no trades across the listed series.
The NGX Sovereign Bond Index remained unchanged at 668.35 points.
The only debt transaction recorded during the session took place on the Non-Interest Finance Board, where one transaction involving 100,000 units of TAJ Sukuk Series 2 was executed at an adjusted price of N97.00 per unit.
