Stock Market Sheds N103.98bn, Reverses Gain

The nation’s stock market has reversed the gain recorded on Tuesday as investors lost N103.98bn at the end of trading on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange on Wednesday.

The market capitalisation dropped to N11.842tn on Wednesday from N11.946tn on Tuesday, while the All Share Index shed 0.87 per cent to settle at 32,437 basis points. The market cap stood at N11.833tn on Monday.

The year-to-date return also dropped lower to -15.18 per cent as volume and value of transactions failed to match Tuesday’s participation in the market.

Activity level moved in tandem with the broader index, as volume and value traded fell by 63.3 per cent and 31.1 per cent to 240.764 million units and N3.7bn, respectively.

The top traded stocks by volume were Zenith Bank Plc (87.1 million units), UBA Plc (68.4m units) and Fidelity Bank Plc (15.9 million units) whiled the top traded stocks by value were Zenith (N2.0bn), UBA (N0.6bn) and Dangote Cement Plc (N0.5bn.

Across sectors, performance was largely bearish as all indices except the insurance index gained 1.5 per cent due to price appreciation in Continental Reinsurance Plc and Wapic Insurance Plc.

The industrial goods index lost the most, dropping by 1.6 per cent due to profit taking in Dangote Cement.

Eleven stocks recorded price appreciation on Wednesday while 22 posted losses.

Analysts at Afrinvest Securities Limited said, “Although sentiments in the market remain soft, we believe it presents an entry opportunity for long term investors to position in fundamentally sound stocks.

“Nonetheless, we maintain a bearish outlook for the market in the near term.”