The Nigerian equities market reversed its winning streak on Thursday, closing the week on a negative note as investors lost N73 billion.

The market traded for four days this week following the Federal Government’s declaration of June 12 as a public holiday.

The downturn was driven by sustained sell-offs in banking and insurance stocks, which weighed heavily on overall market performance.

Market capitalisation declined by 0.05 per cent, closing at N156.969 trillion, down from N157.042 trillion recorded in the previous session.

The All-Share Index also shed 133.47 points, or 0.05 per cent, closing at 244,738.74 compared with 244,852.21 previously.

The market’s year-to-date return dropped to 57.27 per cent, while market breadth closed flat with 32 gainers and 32 losers.

International Energy Insurance led the losers’ chart, dropping 10 per cent to close at N7.11 per share.

May and Baker followed, losing 8.51 per cent to close at N43, while Tripple Gee declined by 8.47 per cent to settle at N4 per share.

Abbey Mortgage Bank fell by 7.69 per cent to close at N11.40, while AXA Mansard shed 6.67 per cent to finish at N12.60 per share.

On the gainers’ chart, Enamelware, Learn Africa, Consolidated Hallmark and University Press each advanced by 10 per cent. The stocks closed at N40.70, N11, N8.25 and N5.50 per share, respectively.

ABC Transport also gained 9.86 per cent, ending the session at N7.80 per share.

A total of 1.70 billion shares worth N52.81 billion were traded in 49,807 deals. This compares with 1.23 billion shares valued at N38.84 billion exchanged in 54,193 transactions during the previous session.

FCMB led the volume chart with 584.87 million shares traded, representing 33.99 per cent of total market volume.

Access Corporation topped the value chart with transactions worth N13.95 billion, accounting for 26.41 per cent of total market value traded.