Nigeria’s stock investors lose N8bn as market falls further

The stock market of Africa’s largest economy failed to close in green on Thursday September 17 as the benchmark performance indicator decreased by -0.07percent.

This week alone, the market has decreased by 0.23percent, which moderated the month-to-date gain to +0.81percent. The market’s negative return year to date has increased to -4.88percent.

Market watchers see the possibility of recent losses ushering in bargain hunting activities in the next few sessions, though a cautious trading strategy is still recommended.

On Thursday, investors took profit on equities like Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc, Custodian Investment Plc, Caverton Plc, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated Plc, and Oando Plc.

At the close of trading session, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All-Share Index (ASI) which tracks the performance of the Bourse decreased to 25,533.35 points from preceding day high of 25,558.81 points.

Also, the value of listed stocks (market capitalisation) decreased by N8billion to N13.344trillion as against preceding trading day high of N13.352trillion.

In 3,360 deals, investors exchanged
231,201,739 units valued at N2.095billion. Banking stocks were actively traded on the Bourse led by FBN Holdings, Access Bank, Zenith Bank, FCMB Group and GTBank.

Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc led others laggards after its share price moved from N11.9 to
N11.2, losing 70kobo or 5.88percent. Custodian Investment dropped from N4.8 to N4.55, shedding 25kobo or 5.21 percent.

Caverton moved from N1.86 to N1.7, losing 16kobo or 8.60 percent. Ecobank Transnational Incorporated was down from N4.05 to N3.95, losing 10kobo or 2.47 percent, while Oando dipped from N2.35 to N2.3, down by 5kobo or 2.13percent.