NSE Investors Lose N46b as Nestle Leads Decliners

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

Transactions on the trading floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) resumed on Tuesday after the public holiday on Monday to observe the country’s 57th Independence Day celebration.

The market was dry due to continued weak investors’ sentiments, which left the depressed market to go down by 0.38 percent, trimming the year-to-date return to 31.37 percent.

At the close of business today, a total of 22 stocks depreciated in value, led by Nestle, which went down by N5.11k to settle at N1215 per share.

Nigerian Breweries fell by N3 to close at N162 per share, while Dangote Cement slumped by N2.99k to finish at N210 per share.

Forte Oil declined by N1.80k to end at N48.10k per share, and PZ Cussons went down by N1.27k to wrap the day at N24.23k per share.

Business Post reports that a total of 18 equities appreciated in price at the close of transactions on Tuesday led by Total Plc, which increased by N4 to settle at N235 per share.

It was followed by Guinness Nigeria rose by N3.49k to close at N98.50k per share, and Lafarge, which went up by N1.34k to end at N52.2k per share.

Zenith Bank improved by 61k to finish at N24.1k per share, while Stanbic IBTC grew by 51k to settle at N40.1k per share.

But despite the weak sentiments by investors today at the market, the volume and value of equities traded broadly appreciated.

A total of 634.2 million shares were exchanged by investors in 3,850 deals worth N5.8 billion, against 235.8 million transacted in 2,809 deals valued at N3.8 billion.

However, at the close of activities on Tuesday, the market capitalisation fell N46 billion to settle at N12.2 trillion, while the All-Share Index (ASI) slumped by 133.89 points to close at 35,306.09 points.

Financial stocks still remained the toast of investors, with FCMB emerging the most active stock, exchanging a total of 370.4 million shares worth N378 million.

It was trailed by FBN Holdings, which traded 34 million shares valued at N193.6 million, and GTBank, which transacted 33.5 million shares at N1.3 billion.

Zenith Bank traded 26.9 million shares atN641 million, while UCAP exchanged 25.2 million shares worth N73.3 million.