The equities market closed lower on Wednesday, reversing previous gains and eroding investors’ wealth by N352 billion.

Selloffs in stocks such as RT Briscoe, May and Baker, Ikeja Hotel, LivingTrust Mortgage Bank, eTranzact, and 33 others dragged the market into negative territory.

As a result, market capitalisation declined by 0.33 per cent, or N352 billion, from N106.088 trillion at the opening to N105.736 trillion at the close.

Similarly, the All-Share Index fell by 549.45 points, or 0.33 per cent, from 165,713.83 to 165,164.38.

The market breadth also closed negative, recording 38 losers and 32 gainers.

RT Briscoe led the losers’ chart by 9.97 per cent, settling at N6.50; May and Baker trailed by 9.96 per cent, ending the session at N32.25; while Ikeja Hotel lost by 9.92 per cent, finishing at N32.25 per share.

Livingtrust Mortgage Bank dropped by 9.90 per cent, closing at N4.64, and Etranzact dipped by 9.16 per cent, settling at N17.35 per share.

On the other hand, Union Homes Real Estate and Deap Capital Management led the gainers’ chart, rising by 9.97 per cent to N94.85 and N9.49 per share, respectively.

Also, Tantalizer increased by 9.92 per cent, settling at N3.88; Skyway Aviation Handling Company rose by 9.91 per cent, closing at 128.60; and Morison grew by 9.90 per cent, ending the session at 9.99 per share.

Analysis of the market activity showed a 29 per cent growth in the volume, a two per cent increase in value, but a five per cent drop in deals.

A total of 623.2 million shares, worth N16.5 billion, were traded in 42,172 transactions, compared to 483.09 million shares valued at N17.4 billion traded across 41,499 deals.

Neimeth International Pharmaceutical recorded the highest volume with 58.13 million shares, accounting for 9.33 per cent of the total volume traded for the day.

Zenith Bank recorded the highest value traded at N2.30 billion, accounting for 13.93 per cent of the total value traded for the day.

(NAN)