•As naira falls to N1,455.38/$ at official window
The Nigerian equities market continued on a downturn yesterday as market capitalisation declined further by N34 billion amid losses in 23 stocks.

Yesterday, the all share index (ASI) lost 78.28 points, representing a loss of 0.05 per cent to close at 146,862.01 points. Also, market capitalisation declined by N34 billion to close at N 93.625 trillion.

The overall downturn was impacted by losses recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are UACN, Nigerian Breweries, Access Holdings, Oando and Haldane McCall.

Sectoral performance trended mostly downward as the insurance sector recorded the biggest loss with a 0.39 per cent decline, while consumer goods slipped by 0.14 per cent.

The oil and gas sector also weakened by 0.08 per cent and banking moderated by 0.04 per cent. Meanwhile, the industrial and commodity sectors ended the trading session unchanged.

Despite the index decline, market breadth was positive with 28 gainers surpassing 23 losers. Japaul Gold & Ventures recorded the highest price gain of 10 per cent to close at N2.53 kobo. Prestige Assurance followed with a gain of 9.4 per cent to close at N1.63 kobo, while MeCure Industries rose by 7.72 per cent to close at N34.90 kobo.

The Initiates Plc (TIP) appreciated by 7.3 per cent to close at N12.50 kobo, while Consolidated Hallmark Holdings up by 6.97 per cent to close at N4.30 kobo.

On the other hand, Chams Holding Company led the losers’ chart by 10 per cent to close at N3.06 kobo. Haldane McCall followed with a decline of 8.88 per cent to close at N4, while UACN declined by 8.18 per cent to close at N80.80 kobo. SUNU Assurance depreciated by 6.98 per cent to close at N4, while Linkage Assurance declined by 4.35 per cent to close at N1.76.

Also, the total volume traded fell by 63.25 per cent to 747.087 million units, valued at N12.426 billion, and exchanged in 19,161 deals. Transactions in the shares of Cutix topped the activity chart with 122.914 million shares valued at N369.084 million. FCMB Group followed with 80.668 million shares worth N879.252 million. Consolidated Hallmark Holdings traded 71.176 million shares valued at N286.399 million.

Fidelity Bank traded 63.839 million shares valued at N1.213 billion, while Tantalizer sold 57.837 million shares worth N136.451 million. Meanwhile, the naira came under renewed pressure on yesterday as it weakened in both the official and parallel market segments.

At the official NAFEM window, the currency slipped by 0.07 per cent to close at N1,455.38 per dollar, while in the parallel market it depreciated by 0.31 per cent to N1,474 per dollar.

The downturn was largely attributed to heightened dollar demand associated with year-end activities, signalling softer market sentiment and intensifying pressure across both the regulated and informal foreign exchange markets.