Stock Market: Investors lose N457bn as market capitalisation continues free fall

By SUNDAY MICHAEL OGWU, Lagos

Trading on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) continues its negative streak as investors lost ₦457 billion, forcing market capitalisation to drop to ₦11.8trillion on Thursday. Price depreciation in shares of MTNN (-10.0percent), Guaranty (-9.1percent) and Zenith (-10.0percent) dragged the All-Share Index down to 22,695.88 points, while the year to date  (YTD) loss worsened to -15.4percent.

Activity level declined as volume and value traded fell 23.9percent and 44.4percent to 1.1billion units and ₦9.8billion respectively.

The most actively traded stocks by volume were Zenith (433.2million units), UBA (371.3million units) and Guaranty (62.2million units) while Zenith (₦4.7billion), UBA (₦2.1billion) and Guaranty (₦1.1billion) led by value.

Performance across sectors was bearish as indices closed southward. The Banking index lost the most, down 8.5percent, due to sell-offs in Zenith (-10.0percent), Access (-9.3percent) and Guaranty (-9.1percent).

Likewise, the AFR-ICT (-5.3percent) and Insurance (-5.2percent) indices declined, following sell pressures in MTNN (-10.0percent), Mansard (-9.6percent) and NEM (-8.6percent).

The Consumer and Industrial Goods indices trailed behind, as it was down by 2.7percent and 0.9percent respectively, following price depreciation in Nigerian Breweries (-10.0percent), Flourmill (-10.0percent) and WAPCO (-9.7percent).

Also, a 10.0percent decline in Oando dragged the Oil & Gas index down by 0.8percent. Investors’ sentiment as measured by market breadth weakened to 0.05x from the 0.9x recorded in Wednesday’s trading session as only 2 stocks advanced against 44 decliners.

The best performing stocks were Caverton (+10.0percent) and Stanbic (+3.4percent) while UPL (-10.0percent), Flourmill (-10.0percent) and Nigerian Breweries (-10.0percent) led the laggards. (Daily Trust)