At the end of Wednesday’s session, the NGX extended its bearish trend, as losses in ARADEL weighed on the local bourse, with the NGX All-Share Index (NGX-ASI) edging lower by 0.36% to 240,750.47 points, despite increased market participation. The latest decline extended the bearish run to a seventh consecutive session, pushing the market’s weekly loss to 0.77%. Market capitalisation also declined to NGN155.42 trillion, representing an estimated NGN555.68 billion decline in investors’ wealth. Market breadth closed neutral at 1.00x, with 27 gainers and 27 decliners, although the UD ratio of 0.21x highlighted significantly heavier selling pressure in terms of traded volume.

At the sectoral level, performance was mixed, although the overall tone remained bearish. The Oil & Gas Index declined 4.63%, largely driven by a sharp 9.99% decline in ARADEL. The Consumer Goods Index also fell 0.31%, owing to losses in INTBREW, while the Insurance Index declined by 0.88%. In contrast, the Banking Index advanced by 0.54%, supported by marginal gains in UBA and ZENITHBANK.