Investors’ losses hit N244b

Nigeria Stock Exchange, Lagos

By Helen Oji

There appears to be no end in sight for the reign of bears on the equity sector of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) as major highly capitalized stock continued to record price depreciation, causing investors’ wealth to plunge further by N244 billion in four trading days.

Specifically, the market capitalisation which stood at N13.499 trillion when the market re-opened for trading on Monday, now stands at N13.211 trillion, shedding N244 billion or 2.3 per cent.
Also, the all-share index, which measures the performance of listed equities, lost 796.81 points from 37,266.86 to 36,470.05.

Analysts at Afrinvest Limited said: “The relative strength index of the local bourse currently stands at 30.2 points indicating the market has reached the oversold region. Irrespective of this reading, we expect market bearish trend to continue. Nonetheless, we do not rule out the possibility of a rebound in the near term as investors respond to the incoming half year, 2018 earnings results.”
The downturn, which persisted yesterday, was occasioned by losses recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are; Nestle Nigeria, Nigerian Breweries, International Breweries, Zenith Bank and UAC of Nigeria.
Market breadth closed negative, with 20 gainers versus 27 losers. Wema Bank recorded the highest price gain of 9.68 per cent, to close at 68 kobo per share. Oando gained 9.47 per cent to close at N5.20, while Linkage Assurance appreciated by 8.22 per cent to close at 79 kobo per share.
Niger Insurance appreciated by eight per cent to close at 27 kobo, while Dangote Sugar gained 6.56 per cent to close at N19.50 per share.
On the other hand, ETranzact International led the losers’ chart by 9.89 per cent, to close at N4.10 per share. Livestock followed with a loss of 9.33 per cent to close at 68 kobo, while Tantalizer followed with a loss of 8.70 per cent to close at 21 kobo, per share.
Unity Bank declined by 7.45 per cent to close at 87 kobo, while Union Diagnostic Clinical Services shed 7.41 per cent each to close at 25 kobo per share.