Investors Lose N45bn As 15 Firms Push Stock Market Lower

Investors lost N45bn on Tuesday as the stock market extended its decline amid losses recorded by 15 firms.

The market breadth closed negative as only eight firms gained while 15 saw their share prices drop at the end of trading.

The Nigerian Stock Exchange All-Share Index dipped by 86.01 basis points or 0.35 per cent to close at 24,114.59bps from 24,200.60bps on Monday.

The market capitalisation of equities depreciated by N45bn from N12.62tn the previous day to N12.58tn on Tuesday as market sentiment remained in negative territory.

A total of 208.20 million shares were traded in 4,174 deals on Tuesday.

The banking subsector was the most active (measured by turnover volume), with 102.52 million shares traded by investors in 1,031 deals.

The volume in the subsector was largely driven by trading activities on the shares of Sterling Bank Plc and Guaranty Trust Bank Plc.

The premium subsector was boosted by trading activities on the shares of the United Bank for Africa Plc and Zenith Bank Plc, with a turnover of 46.33 million shares in 1,557 deals.

Unilever Nigeria Plc topped the gainers’ table with an increase of 9.64 per cent to close at N13.65 per share.

Chams Plc and Regency Alliance Insurance Plc appreciated by 4.55 per cent each to close at 23 kobo apiece per share, while Japaul Oil & Maritime Services Plc added 4.17 per cent to close at 25 kobo per share.

On the other hand, ARBICO Nigeria Plc led the losers’ table with a drop of 9.94 per cent to close at N1.54 per share.

GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria Plc shed 9.38 per cent to close at N4.35 per share while ABC Transport Plc lost nine per cent to close at 50 kobo per share.