By Bamidele Famoofo
WorldStage– Equities investors on the Nigerian Exchange Limited, pulled out N2.39trillion from their wallets on the first trading day in July, further consolidating on their profit-taking spree.
The gains taken from the market is a little lower than the nation’s budget for healthcare in 2026, which stands at N2.48 trillion, representing only 4.2 percent of the total budget for 2026.
All-Share Index declined by 1.63 percent to settle at 225,690.07 points, which pulled the year-to-date return down to +45.03 percent with market capitalization closing at ₦144.82 trillion.
Investor sentiment was broadly negative with a market breadth of 0.6x, as 32 decliners led by NEIMETH, MCNICHOLS, ARADEL, NASCON, and INTBREW comfortably outpaced 19 advancers, among which AUSTINLAZ, GUINEAINS, ABBEYBANK, DAARCOMM, and REGALINS logged the most notable gains.
This bearish performance swept across almost all sectors, with Oil & Gas (-4.41%), Industrial (-3.65%), Commodity (-2.91%), Banking (-1.49%), and Consumer Goods (- 0.93%) all finishing in the red, while the Insurance sector managed a 0.42 percent gain. Concurrently, market liquidity weakened considerably as volume, turnover, and deal count plunged by 49.50 percent, 65.09 percent, and 5.35 percent to 488.12 million shares, ₦13.96 billion, and 46,929 transactions respectively.
Looking ahead, the market is expected to sustain its bearish momentum due to ongoing profit-taking, though strategic investor repositioning could potentially shift the tide in the coming sessions.
