The Nigerian equities market halted its three-day bullish rally on Tuesday as investors lost N1.879 trillion, following increased sell-offs ahead of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery IPO.

Managing Director of Globalview Capital Limited, Aruna Kebira, attributed the market downturn to investors repositioning their portfolios ahead of the Dangote Refinery IPO.

Mr Kebira said investors were selling down their holdings to raise funds ahead of the offer, creating a significant imbalance between sell and buy orders.

“Preparations for the Dangote Refinery IPO caused the downturn in performance today.

“The number of people selling is high. Today, our sales were about 15 times higher than purchases.

“Everybody is selling to prepare for the Dangote Refinery IPO and the further disruption expected in the market,” he said.

The analyst said the strong selling pressure had pushed down demand, noting that many investors were positioning their portfolios to participate in the IPO.

He said the development was no longer speculative, following the formal signing ceremony and commencement of activities ahead of the offer.

“The idea was muted before, but now the signing ceremony has been held, and the offer is expected to open on the trading floor on September 14.

“So, it is no longer a rumour,” he said.

Meanwhile, market capitalisation fell from N160.600 trillion to N158.721 trillion, down N1.879 trillion, or 1.17 per cent.

Similarly, the All-Share Index (ASI) dropped by 2,897.67 points or 1.17 per cent, from 247,699.78 to 244,802.11.

The development reflected broad-based sell-offs.
This brought the market’s Year-to-Date return to 57.31 per cent, while market breadth closed negative, with 64 losers and four gainers.

FG162029S1 led the losers’ chart, down 31.19 per cent to N75.

AVA Capital followed, down 10 per cent, ending the session at N5.40, and Fortis Global Insurance lost by 9.89 per cent, settling at N1.64 per share.

Abbey Mortgage Bank dipped by 9.74 per cent, closing at N6.95, and Critical Minerals Financing Corp shed by 9.66 per cent, settling at N2.15 per share.

Conversely, Ellah Lakes topped the gainers’ chart by 7.07 per cent, finishing at N9.85; Nigerian Exchange Group trailed by 1.38 per cent, settling at N131.90, while Learn Africa grew by 1.16 per cent, closing at N8.75 per share.

Wema Bank also gained 0.68 per cent, ending the session at N29.70 per share.

Trading activity strengthened during the session, with total volume traded rising by 84.67 per cent to 753.17 million shares, valued at N27.83 billion across 54,051 deals.

NEM Insurance Plc recorded the highest trading volume and value, with 131.73 million shares worth N4.07 billion changing hands.

This accounted for 17.49 per cent and 14.63 per cent of the total market volume and value, respectively.

(NAN)