The first trading session of September 2025 on the domestic stock market ended on a bearish note on Monday with a 0.41 per cent loss aggravated by persistent selling pressure.
Data from the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited indicated that the profit-taking was almost across the key sectors of the market.
The sectorial performance showed that only the commodity space witnessed bargain-hunting as it gained 0.12 per cent during the trading session.
However, the banking industry went down by 1.12 per cent, the industrial goods index weakened by 0.85 per cent, the energy sector fell by 0.45 per cent, the insurance counter crashed by 0.05 per cent, and the consumer goods space slipped by 0.03 per cent.
Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) decreased by 573.30 points to 139,722.19 points from last Friday’s 140,295.49 points and the market capitalisation shrank by N362 billion to N88.407 trillion from N88.769 trillion.
A total of 408.0 million equities valued at N14.8 billion exchanged hands in 33,859 deals yesterday versus the 435.1 million equities worth N10.4 billion traded in 25,609 deals in the preceding session, implying a decline in the trading volume by 6.23 per cent and a rise in the trading value and number of deals by 42.31 per cent and 32.22 per cent, respectively.
Leading the activity chart for the session was FCMB with 55.8 million units valued at N601.7 million, Access Holdings sold 32.0 million units worth N843.0 million, Fidelity Bank exchanged 26.2 million units for N547.9 million, Secure Electronic Technology transacted 22.4 million units valued at N19.5 million, and AIICO Insurance traded 17.7 million units worth N70.5 million.
The trio of Ellah Lakes, Eterna, and Veritas Kapital topped the losers’ log during the trading day after giving up 10.00 per cent each to settle at N12.69, N34.20, and N1.89 apiece, as Chams shed 9.56 per cent to finish at N2.65, and Cutix slacked by 7.71 per cent to N3.23.
The biggest price gainer for the session was Sovereign Trust Insurance as its price went up b 10.00 per cent to N2.86, SCOA Nigeria improved by 9.83 per cent to N6.59, Cornerstone Insurance gained 7.98 per cent to N6.90, Guinea Insurance expanded by 7.75 per cent to N1.53, and Secure Electronic Technology grew by 4.71 per cent to 89 Kobo.