Investors on the Nigerian stock market suffered a significant loss of N750 billion on Monday as bearish sentiment continued to dominate trading. The market downturn was primarily driven by heavy selloffs in the shares of Dangote Cement and Tier-1 banks, including Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) and FBN Holdings.

The market capitalization, which stood at N55.132 trillion at the opening of the week, declined by 1.36 percent, closing at N54.382 trillion. Similarly, the All-Share Index dropped by 1.36 percent, ending the day at 95,781.68 points, down from 97,100.31 points recorded on Friday. This decline also led to a reduction in the Year-To-Date (YTD) return, which fell to 28.10 percent.

Despite the overall market decline, market breadth was positive, with 31 stocks gaining and 19 losing. Among the gainers, Cutix Plc, RT Briscoe, and Sky Aviation Handling Company each saw a 10 percent increase, closing at N2.64, N1.87, and N26.40 per share, respectively. Oando also gained 9.90 percent to close at N39.40, while FTN Cocoa Processors rose by 9.57 percent to N2.06 per share.

On the losing side, Dangote Cement led the decliners, dropping by 10 percent to close at N532 per share. Secure Electronic Technology followed, losing 9.76 percent to close at 37 kobo per share. African Prudential fell by 9.68 percent to N8.40, Beta Glass decreased by 9.43 percent to N48, and Caverton declined by 6.38 percent to N1.32 per share.

Market activity analysis showed an increase in trade turnover compared to the previous session, with the value of transactions rising by 2.47 percent. A total of 3.55 billion shares valued at N7.65 billion were traded in 9,291 deals, compared to 348.95 million shares worth N7.46 billion exchanged in 7,677 deals in the prior session.

GTCO led both the volume and value charts, with 59.25 million shares traded, valued at N2.73 billion.