By Dipo Olowookere
The invasion of the National Assembly (NASS) by security operatives on Tuesday morning took its toll on the Nigerian stock market today.
The situation dominated the blogosphere and polity today as some lawmakers were prevented from gaining access into the complex because officials of the Department of State Services (DSS) mounted the main gate to the parliament.
Later in the day, the Director General of the DSS, Mr Lawal Daura, was fired by the Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, over the issue.
Business Post reports that at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), it was all red from when the market opened for business till when it closed for the day.
During the day’s trading, some investors, who were keeping tabs on happenings in Abuja, were selling off their stocks for cash, while few were stocking up their portfolio, taking advantage of the very low price they were getting the shares from panicking sellers.
At the close of transactions, the stock market suffered a 0.40 percent loss, leaving the Year-to-Date (YtD) gain to -4.99 percent.
Business Post reports further that the banking sector as well as the oil and gas sector suffered huge losses today. While the banking index declined by 1.08 percent, the oil and gas index depreciated by 4.69 percent.
Overall, the All-Share Index (ASI) lost 145.62 points to close at 36,333.80 points, while the market capitalization reduced by N53 billion to settle at N13.262 trillion.
However, the market breadth ended positive today with the stock market closing with 23 price gainers and 21 price losers.
The price gainers’ chart was led on Tuesday by Nigerian Breweries after its shares rose by N2.10k to settle at N103 per share.
It was followed by Flour Mills, which increased by 90 kobo to finish at N25.50k per share, and Newrest ASL Nigeria, which grew by 45 kobo to end at N4.95k per share.
Cadbury Nigeria also garnered 45 kobo to close at N9.95k per share, while United Capital appreciated by 28 kobo to settle at N3.08k per share.
On the flip side, Seplat recorded the highest price depreciation today with N60 of its share value lost to close at N650 per share.
CAP declined by N3.15k to finish at N28.35k per share, while GTBank lost 85 kobo to settle at N39.15k per share.
Lafarge fell by 60 kobo to end at N29.90k per share, while Forte Oil went down by 55 kobo to close at N23 per share.
Business Post reports that the volume of shares transacted by investors today increased by 36.07 percent, while the value of trades rose by 10.43 percent.
At the close of business, a total of 248.1 million shares were sold for N2.3 billion compared with the 182.3 million equities traded yesterday for N2 billion.
A further look at the transactions showed that the Financial Services sector led the activity chart with 207.2 million shares traded for N1.6 billion, while the Healthcare sector followed with 14.7 million equities sold for N7 million.
A deeper look at the activity chart showed that Wema Bank shares emerged the most traded, selling a total of 53.5 million units worth N37.5 million.
It was followed by GTBank, which transacted 23.4 million units for N925.1 million, and United Bank for Africa, which exchanged 22.2 million shares worth N214 million.
Diamond Bank traded 16.9 million equities valued at N21.2 million, while United Capital sold 14.2 million shares worth N43.2 million.
Investors will only hope that a calmer atmosphere tomorrow will have a positive effect on the market. Also, investors will hope that GTBank and other three other lenders release their half year earnings to lift the stock market.
