Investors lose N170bn in Stock market
…as Market capitalization falls below N11tn

Nigeria’s stock market opened the week on a bearish note as investors lost N170bn on Monday.The equities market, which lost N343bn on four trading sessions last week, saw its market capitalisation drop from N11.124tn on Friday to N10.954tn on Monday.
The All Share Index shed 1.53 per cent to close at 29,162.24 basis points, which dragged the year-to-date loss to -7.2 per cent.
The equities market was broadly negative last week, closing in the red in the first four sessions with a mild recovery on Friday.
The ASI dropped below 30,000bps last week. Analysts said the release of mostly unimpressive earnings results further soured sentiment in the market as significant losses across the banking, consumer goods, and industrial goods sectors dragged the performance of the market.
Activity level strengthened on Monday as volume and value traded rose by 13.4 per cent and 50.6 per cent to 455.875 million units and N5.26bn, respectively.
The top traded stocks by volume were Sterling Bank Plc (93.4 million units), Guaranty Trust Bank (78.3 million units) and Tripple Gee and Company Plc (60 million units), while GTB (N2.7bn), Zenith Bank Plc (N540.7m) and 11 Plc were the top traded stocks by value.
Performance across sectors was mostly negative as three of five indices closed in the red.
The banking and industrial goods indices led losers, shedding 2.15 per cent and 0.88 per cent, respectively, following sell-offs in Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, GTB, Dangote Cement Plc and First Aluminium Nigeria Plc.
The consumer goods index depreciated by 0.35 per cent following sell pressures in Guinness Nigeria Plc and Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc.
On the flip side, the insurance and oil and gas indices advanced by 0.20 per cent and 0.08 per cent, respectively, due to gains recorded in Mutual Benefits Assurance Plc, Niger Insurance Plc, Eterna Plc and 11 Plc.
Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth dropped to 0.4x from 1.2x recorded last Friday as 13 stocks advanced against 30 decliners.
The top five losers were Fidson Healthcare Plc, Tripple Gee, NPF Microfinance Bank Plc, Chi Plc and Mcnichols Plc, whose respective share prices shed 10 per cent, 9.09 per cent, 8.72 per cent, 7.41 per cent and 7.35 per cent.

The top five gainers were Mutual Benefits, Neimeth Pharmaceuticals Plc, Learn Africa Plc, Chams Plc and Eterna Plc, which gained 10 per cent, 9.80 per cent, 8.94 per cent, 8.33 per cent and 6.25 per cent, respectively.
Analysts at Afrinvest Securities Limited said, “In the near term, we expect to see bargain hunting activities due to the attractive entry prices of several fundamentally sound stocks in the market, although this may be short-lived in the absence of the much needed economic reforms to attract investors.”