Investors Lose N198bn Amid Panic Selling of Stocks

By Dipo Olowookere

The local stock market depreciated by 1.53 percent on Tuesday following the massive selling pressure the exchange came under.

This depleted the total market size of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) by N198 billion, closing at N12.770 trillion in contrast to the previous N12.968 trillion.

Also, the profit-taking by investors reduced the All-Share Index (ASI) by 379.73 points to 24,479.16 points from 24,858.89 points it closed on Monday.

Business Post reports that in the midst of the panic, some investors used the occasion to buy the stocks selling at low prices.

This increased the level of activity yesterday with the volume of stocks traded by investors rising by 76.83 percent to 280.7 million from 158.7 million.

Also, the value of shares exchanged on Tuesday improved by 91.89 percent to N3.1 billion from N1.6 billion, while the number of deals grew by 13.30 percent to 4,464 deals from 3,940 deals.

FBN Holdings was the most traded stock by volume on Tuesday, with 68.2 million units of its shares sold for N365.0 million.

Nigerian Breweries traded 22.5 million equities for N805.4 million, Japaul Oil exchanged 17.8 million stocks valued at N3.8 million, Abbey Mortgage Bank transacted 14.0 million equities worth N14.7 million, while FCMB traded 10.2 million stocks for N19.2 million.

On the price movement list, BUA Cement was the highest price decliner after it lost N4.30 to finish at N38.70 per unit.

Dangote Cement fell by N1 to end at N127 per share, Lafarge Africa declined by 80 kobo to trade at N10 per unit, Cadbury Nigeria dropped 75 kobo to N6.75 per share, while Berger Paints shed 70 kobo to stay at N6.75 per unit.

On the opposite side, Okomu Oil gained N7 to sell at N77.40 per share, Nigerian Breweries improved by N1.10 to settle at N36.10 per unit, Vitafoam chalked up 29 kobo to trade at N5.59 per share, Neimeth garnered 15 kobo to quote at N1.65 per share, while Law Union and Rock gained 6 kobo to sell at N1.03 per unit.