Investors Lose N360bn As Stock Extends Decline

Investors lost N360bn on Tuesday at the end of trading on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange Limited as the stock market extended its decline.

The NGX All-Share Index fell by 1.81 per cent to close at 37,847.07 basis points from 38,545.3bps on Monday, while the market capitalisation dropped to N19.73tn from N20.09tn.

A total of 218.27 million shares valued at N2.73bn were traded by investors in 3,524 deals, compared to 209.21 million valued at N1.76bn in 3,390 deals on Monday.

Twenty-three companies, led by Airtel Africa Plc, recorded losses at the end of trading on Tuesday.

Airtel Africa saw its share price fall by 10 per cent to N678. It was followed by Mutual Benefits Assurance Plc, which dropped by 7.32 per cent to close at N0.38 per shared.

Cornerstone Insurance Plc declined by 7.27 per cent to N0.51 per share; Learn Africa Plc lost 6.48 per cent to close at N1.01 per share; while Ikeja Hotel Plc shed 6.19 per cent to close at N0.91 per share.

Nineteen companies saw their share prices rise on Tuesday, with Fidson Healthcare Plc leading the pack with a gain of 10 per cent to close at N5.06 per share.

Vitafoam Nigeria Plc appreciated by 9.68 per cent to close at N13.60, while Red Star Express gained 9.55 per cent to close at N3.67 per share.

Veritas Kapital Assurance Plc rose by 9.09 per cent to N0.24 per share while Chams Plc increased by five per cent to N0.21 per share.

Analysts at Cordros Capital Limited noted that the Nigerian equities bourse dipped further into the bear territory as foreign investors sold off Airtel Africa.

They noted that the month-to-date return turned negative (-1.5 per cent), while year-to-date loss increased to 6.0 per cent.

“Sectoral performance was mixed, as the industrial goods (-1.1 per cent), insurance (-0.4 per cent) and banking (-0.1 per cent) indices declined, while the oil and gas (+0.1 per cent) index was the sole gainer. The consumer goods index was flat,” the analysts said.