The Nigerian equities market halted its recent bullish run on Tuesday, losing N577 billion after a stretch of gains that had added over N11.86 trillion to investors’ portfolios.

Market capitalization of listed equities declined by N577 billion, representing a 0.48 per cent drop from N122.129 trillion to N121.552 trillion. In the same vein, the All-Share Index (ASI) slipped by 0.48 per cent, losing 899.50 points to close at 189,362.94, down from 190,262.44 recorded on Monday.

Following the decline, the year-to-date return eased to 21.66 per cent. Despite the pullback, market breadth remained positive, with 44 gainers against 40 losers.

On the gainers’ chart, ABC Transport led with a 9.94 per cent appreciation, followed by Zichis, Red Star Express, Meyer, and Japaul Gold.

On the flip side, Skyway Aviation Handling Company, Mecure, and Zenith Bank topped the losers’ list with a 10 per cent drop each, while RT Briscoe and Tripple Gee also posted notable losses.

Trading activity showed mixed performance, as volume rose by 12 per cent and the number of deals increased by 34 per cent, even though the total value traded declined by six per cent. A total of 1.2 billion shares worth N60.2 billion were exchanged in 86,607 deals, compared to 1.1 billion shares valued at N64.02 billion traded in 64,821 transactions on Monday.

Access Corporation recorded the highest trading volume, with 103.49 million shares exchanged, accounting for 8.62 per cent of total volume. Meanwhile, Zenith Bank posted the highest value traded at N8.01 billion, representing 13.30 per cent of the day’s total value.

The market downturn comes just a day after investors gained N5.1 trillion, which pushed market capitalization to N122.129 trillion, in addition to the N6.76 trillion rally recorded last week.