The Nigerian equities market declined in the second trading session of the week, with the NGX All-Share Index (NGX-ASI) falling by 0.73% to close at 246,723.57 points. The decline ended the market’s four-session winning streak and erased part of yesterday’s 1.20% gain. As a result, the market’s year-to-date return eased to 58.55%, while market capitalisation declined by 0.73% to NGN159.26 trillion, representing an estimated NGN1.17 trillion loss in investors’ wealth.

Despite the decline in the index, market breadth remained slightly positive, with a breadth ratio of 1.04x, reflecting a near-even balance between gainers and losers. This contrasted with prior sessions, when the index advanced despite negative breadth. The weakness in the benchmark index was largely driven by losses in heavyweight stocks, particularly MTNN, which declined by 4.73% to NGN805.00, and FIRSTHOLDCO, which declined by 1.41% to NGN140.00. These two stocks accounted for most of the index’s decline, even though the broader market remained relatively resilient.