By Dipo Olowookere
Stock market indices depreciated on Monday following the postponement of the 2019 general elections by one week last Saturday.
This triggered sell pressure on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), forcing it to close 1.61 percent lower in the first trading day of the week.
Investors had hoped to start getting a clear picture of who will likely be the President of Nigeria by the time market reopens on Monday, but that expectation was dashed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which shifted the polls in the wee hours of Saturday.
By the time market resumed yesterday, most investors began to sell off their holdings due to the uncertainty caused by the shift.
It was observed that losses were recorded by some big players in the stock market, with Total Nigeria suffering the heaviest, losing N15 to close at N190 per share.
Mobil Oil fell by N14 to settle at N170 per share, while Nigerian Breweries declined by N8 to finish at N75 per share.
GTBank lost N1.45k to end at N36.50k per share, while CCNN went down by N1 to settle at N20 per share.
At the other side, Nestle emerged the biggest price gainer, going up by N35 to close the day at N1600 per share.
It was followed by Beta Glass, which rose by N6.70k to settle at N79 per share, and Presco, which appreciated by N6.60k to end at N72.60k per share.
CAP appreciated by N2.20k to settle at N34 per share, while Dangote Flour increased its share value by 45 kobo to finish at N9.60k per share.
During transactions yesterday, the total volume and value of shares traded by investors decreased by 71.13 percent and 48.15 percent respectively.
A total of 233.5 million equities worth N3.4 billion were traded in 4,135 deals on Monday in contrast to the 808.6 million shares worth N6.5 billion transacted last Friday in 6,177 deals.
Access Bank was the darling of investors yesterday, trading 25.3 million units of its shares valued at N160.2 million.
It was followed by Chams, which sold 21.7 million units worth N4.3 million, and UBA, which transacted 20.5 million shares for N157.2 million.
Zenith Bank exchanged 15.7 million shares worth N375.3 million, while GTBank transacted 13.9 million equities worth N519.1 million.
An analysis of the major market indices showed that the All-Share Index (ASI) depreciated by 525.13 points to settle at 32,190.07 points, while the market capitalisation reduced by N196 billion to close at N12.004 trillion.
Adedapo Adesanya