Nigerian Stock Market Slumps Again, Sheds N9b

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

The Nigerian equities market fell again on Thursday after it ended its eight consecutive losses on Wednesday, giving investors hopes that the market would continue the positive run.

But at the close of market activities on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) today, the market went down by 0.10 percent, dashing investors’ earlier expectations.

Even the number of stocks traded at the capital market on Thursday was lower than what was achieved on Wednesday by 68,585,967 shares.

A total of 97,139,930 units were exchanged today in 1,929 deals valued at N1.14 billion, though N13.7 million higher than yesterday.

The all-share index slumped by 0.10 percent or 26.3 points to close at 25,490.70 points, while the market capitalisation declined by N9.05 billion to finish at N8.774 trillion compared to N8.784 trillion it ended yesterday.

The loss recorded at the stock market on Thursday, according to what a capital market analyst in Lagos, Mr Onyegbula Chijioke, told Business Post, was partly because of the slump in the shares of Total Plc, which shed N22 to lead the losers’ chart, closing at N223 per share.

It was closely followed by Okomu Oil, which lost N1.92k to finish at N40.8k per share, while Forte Oil declined by N1 to end at N18.70k per share.

Also, International Breweries depreciated by 80k to finish at N18.70k per share and Nigerian Breweries fell by 32k to close at N141 per share.

On the other hand, Mobil topped the gainers’ log with a gain of N3.99k to close at N199.2k per share, Flour Mill appreciated by 75k to finish at N19.49k per share, GTBank went up by 21k to end at N21.52k per share, AfriPrud rose by 13k to finish at N2.79k per share and NAHCO improved by 5k to close at N2.45k per share.

However, despite the loss today, investors are upbeat that the market will bounce back tomorrow, which is the last day of trading this week.