Investors in the Nigerian Exchange Limited lost N5.80bn as 24 firms saw their share prices decline at the close of trading on Wednesday.

The NGX All-Share Index declined by 2.87 per cent from 38,802.15 basis points to close at 38,791.03bps.

The total trading volume dropped by 2.24 per cent as 237.51 million shares with a value of N1.90bn were exchanged in 4,306 deals, compared to the previous day’s tally of 243.09 million shares worth N1.85bn traded in 4,326 deals on Tuesday.

Market sentiment was negative as Consolidated Hallmark Insurance Plc led the losers with a 10.00 per cent loss to close at N0.54 per share.

It was followed by Tripple Gee and Company Plc, which also saw a 10.00 per cent drop in its share price to N0.90 at the end of trading on the floor of the NGX.

Other top losers were Pharm-Deko Plc (-9.92 per cent), Regency Assurance Plc (-6.82 per cent) and Eterna Plc (-6.58 per cent).

Capital Hotel Plc led the gainers with an increase of 9.85 per cent to close at N0.54 per share.

Oando Nigeria Plc continued its rally with a 9.81 per cent gain to close at N5.26 per share. BOC Gases Plc, FTN Cocoa Processors Plc and Livestock Feeds Plc saw gains of 8.88 per cent, 8.16 per cent and 4.80 per cent respectively.

“Trading in the local bourse ended on a bearish note as a late sell-off of Zenith Bank (-0.6 per cent) undermined market performance,” said analysts at Cordros Capital in their market commentary.