Investors in the Nigerian Stock Exchange faced significant losses, recording a total decline of N2.205 trillion over just four trading days as the market ended the week on a bearish note.
On Friday alone, investors saw their portfolios shrink by N475 billion, marking the fourth straight session of losses for the week.
From Tuesday through Friday, daily losses were N1.141 trillion, N74 billion, N515 billion, and N475 billion, respectively.
The downturn was primarily fueled by sustained profit-taking in heavyweight stocks, coupled with a 50-basis-point interest rate cut by the Central Bank of Nigeria, bringing the rate to 26.5 percent during the week under review.
On Friday, market capitalization fell from N124.238 trillion at the opening of trading to N123.763 trillion at close, representing a 0.38 percent drop, or N475 billion.
Similarly, the All-Share Index lost 741.03 points, closing at 192,826.78 compared to 193,567.81 in the previous session.
Year-to-date returns also slipped to 23.91 percent, reflecting the overall market pressure.
Despite the negative trend, market breadth ended positive on Friday, with 39 gainers against 25 losers.
Leading the gainers was Sovereign Trust Insurance, which jumped 9.95 percent to close at N2.21. Other notable gainers included RT Briscoe, NGX Group, Ellah Lakes, and Omatek.
On the losing side, Mecure topped the chart with a 9.97 percent drop to N75.85, followed by Meyer, Daar Communications, Champion Breweries, and Dangote Cement.
Trading activity also slowed, with total volume traded falling 5.15 percent to 823.83 million shares valued at N34.75 billion across 63,759 transactions.
Fortis Global Insurance recorded the highest trading volume at 146.62 million shares, representing 17.80 percent of the day’s total. Meanwhile, Aradel led in trade value, posting N7.14 billion, or 20.54 percent of total value traded for the session.