Nigeria’s equities market opened the new month in red, as it on Thursday recorded the highest daily decline in the protest week.

For the fourth consecutive day, the market decreased by 0.42 percent at the close of trading session.

Aggrieved Nigerian youths on Thursday, August 1 took to the streets across major cities of Africa’s most populous nation in line with their planned 10-day protest against bad governance and hunger.

“Due to the proposed nationwide protest tomorrow (ie Thursday), this is to inform you that all our offices in Lagos, Port Harcourt and Abuja will be closed on Thursday August 1, 2024.

“We will closely monitor the situation and provide further communication depending on the developments of the protest,” Lagos-based Meristem research told its clients ahead of Thursday’s trading.

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The Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) All-Share Index and equities market capitalisation decreased to 97,359.76 points and N55.278 trillion respectively as against preceding trading day’s highs of 97,774.22 points and N55.513trillion.

Shares of Oando Plc decreased most from N25 to N23, losing N2 or 8 percent while Dangote Sugar Refinery decreased from preceding day’s high of N37.15 to N34.30, losing N2.85 or 7.67 percent.

“Barring a significant shift in the local capital markets environment that would benefit the equity space, we anticipate a flat to negative tilt in market sentiment on the back of this,” Vetiva Research analysts said ahead of Thursday’s trading.

Shares of Fidelity Bank, UBA, Zenith Bank, Oando and Access Holdings were actively traded as investors in 6,821 deals exchanged 565,116,303 shares worth N8.530billion.

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By Iheanyi Nwachukwu • August 2, 2024

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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