Nigeria’s equities market closed in red on Tuesday, booking its first negative close this week after a quiet start-off.

Driven by sell-off in shares of Africa’s largest cement maker, Dangote Cement, investors booked about N440billion as market decrease by 1.82percent.

Dangote Cement share price decreased from N240 to N220, losing N20 or 8.33percent, followed by leading brewer, Guinness Nigeria Plc which also dropped from N82.9 to N74.65, losing N8.25 or 9.95percent.

“Despite the rebound recorded last week, we retain a near-term expectation of persistent sell pressure in the Nigerian equities market and thus recommend the market is only good for investors with patient capital.

Read also: Here’s why investors are fleeing stock market

“We advise speculators to trade with caution,” analysts at Lagos-based United Capital had advised investors in their recent note.

At the close of trading session on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), its benchmark performance indicator – the All-Share Index (ASI) and equities market capitalisation decreased from preceding day’s highs of 44,269.43points and N24.112trillion respectively to 43,461.6 points and N23.672 trillion.

The record negative on Tuesday pushed lower equities market’s positive return year-to-date (YtD) to 1.74percent. In 3,283 deals, investors exchanged 249,911,758 shares valued at N2.501billion. Access Corporation, FBN Holdings, Transcorp, Fidelity Bank and GTCO were top-5 traded stocks on Tuesday.

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Iheanyi Nwachukwu, is a creative content writer with almost two decades journalism experience writing on banking, finance, capital markets, and tax. The multiple awards winning journalist is Assistant Editor, BusinessDay. Iheanyi holds BSc Degree in Economics from Imo State University; Master of Science (MSc) Degree in Management from University of Lagos. Iheanyi has attended several work-related trainings including (i) Advanced Writing and Reporting Skills (Pan African University, Lagos); (ii) News Agency Journalism (Indian Institute of Mass Communication {IIMC}, New Delhi, India); and (iii) Capital Markets Development and Regulations (International Law Institute {ILI} of Georgetown University, Washington DC, USA). Other trainings Iheanyi attended include: Economic/Political Risk Analysis (By Thomson Reuters Foundation); International Financial Journalism (IFJ) (By PMA Media Training, UK); Effective Business Writing Skills (By Phillips Consulting); Reporting on Corporate Governance (By International Finance Corporation (IFC) & Thomson Reuters Foundation UK); etc. In addition, he has participated in high-level economy & markets events in Dubai, South Africa, Morocco, and other African countries like Zambia, Ghana and Gambia.

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