The upward trend at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited was disrupted by profit-taking in MTN Nigeria, BUA Cement, Lafarge Africa, Abbey Mortgage Bank and 25 others on Friday.
Business Post reports that the local bourse closed lower by 0.56 per cent yesterday, the first loss recorded in 27 straight trading sessions, with the last on July 1, 2025.
It was observed that the decline happened despite Customs Street recorded 42 price gainers and 29 price losers, indicating a positive market breadth index and strong investor sentiment.
Abbey Mortgage Bank topped the losers’ log yesterday after it depreciated by 9.87 per cent to N6.30, Custodian Investment tumbled by 8.48 per cent to N40.45, Deap Capital slipped by 7.53 per cent to N1.35, The Initiates lost 7.34 per cent to close at N12.00, and NPF Microfinance Bank declined by 7.25 per cent to N3.20.
On the flip side, the trio of Champion Breweries, Union Dicon and Universal Insurance gained 10.00 per cent each to trade at N14.41, N9.90, and N1.10 apiece, as Guinness Nigeria and AXA Mansard increased their share prices by 9.99 per cent each to finish at N155.75, and N14.64, respectively.
The industrial goods and consumer goods sectors were down by 1.54 per cent and 0.02 per cent apiece on Friday, as the commodity index closed flat.
However, the insurance space continued its positive momentum after it closed higher by 16.11 per cent, the energy counter grew by 0.38 per cent, and the banking industry expanded by 0.19 per cent.
When the closing gong was struck to signal an end to trading activities for the session, the All-Share Index (ASI) moderated by 815.80 points to 145,754.91 points from 146,570.71 points and the market capitalisation contracted by N516 billion to N92.215 trillion from N92.731 trillion.
On Friday, the market participants transacted 2.2 billion stocks valued at N32.4 billion in 35,036 deals versus the 2.0 billion stocks worth N27.3 billion traded in 35,291 deals a day earlier, representing an uptick in the trading volume and value by 10.00 per cent and 18.68 per cent apiece, and a reduction in the number of deals by 0.72 per cent.
Insurance equities dominated the activity table yesterday, with Linkage Assurance selling 585.6 million units for N1.2 billion, and Universal Insurance trading 213.2 million units worth N234.5 million.
Further, AIICO Insurance exchanged 178.5 million units valued at N618.1 million, Mutual Benefits transacted 137.8 million units worth N402.5 million, and Sterling Holdings traded 115.3 million units valued at N927.4 million.