The bears maintained a tight fist on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Tuesday, causing a 0.12 per cent decline at the close of business.
The loss occurred despite the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announcing a further deceleration in the nation’s inflation for October 2025 a day earlier.
On Monday, the stats office said inflation moderated to 16.05 per cent compared with the 18.02 per cent in September 2025.
Trading data showed that the stock market was quiet as the volume of transactions, the value and number of deals decreased by 1.80 per cent, 46.47 per cent, and 23.39 per cent, respectively.
During the session, a total of 381.2 million stocks valued at N16.7 billion exchanged hands in 21,827 deals versus the 388.2 million stocks worth N31.2 billion transacted in 28,492 deals on Monday.
Tantalizers topped the activity chart with 58.8 million units sold for N146.0 million, Sterling Holdings traded 31.4 million units valued at N242.4 million, Universal Insurance exchanged 28.1 million units worth N35.8 million, Veritas Kapital transacted 25.3 million units for N47.7 million, and Aradel Holdings traded 16.4 million units valued at N9.5 billion.
Investor sentiment was weak yesterday after Customs Street finished with 27 price gainers and 28 price losers, indicating a negative market breadth index.
LivingTrust Mortgage Bank shed 9.90 per cent to trade at N3.73, McNichols depleted by 9.00 per cent to N2.73, Livestock Feeds crashed by 7.75 per cent to N6.55, Regency Alliance slumped by 6.56 per cent to N1.14, and UPDC lost 6.14 per cent to close at N5.96.
Conversely, NCR Nigeria gained 9.95 per cent to quote at N30.95, University Press improved by 9.80 per cent to N5.60, Tantalizers appreciated by 9.79 per cent to N2.58, Caverton expanded by 9.57 per cent to N5.15, and Union Dicon grew by 9.52 per cent to N6.90.
When the bourse ended for the session, the All-Share Index (ASI) was down by 173.26 points to 144,986.51 points from 145,159.77 points and the market capitalisation retreated by N110 billion to N92.219 trillion from N92.329 trillion.
Business Post reports that the commodity and the industrial goods indices were flat yesterday, while the insurance counter was up by 0.13 per cent.
However, the banking sector declined by 0.90 per cent, the energy space shrank by 0.04 per cent, and the consumer goods industry crumbled by 0.02 per cent due to profit-taking.