Stock Market Loses 0.53% After INEC Announces Tinubu President-Elect

By Dipo Olowookere

The Nigerian stock market reacted negatively to the announcement of Mr Bola Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) as the president-elect.

At about 4:30 am on Wednesday, March 1, 2023, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared the former Governor of Lagos State as the winner of the presidential election held on Saturday, February 25, 2023.

The credibility of the process has been questioned by some Nigerians, observers, and even the two major opposition parties in the race, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party (LP), which pulled out of the collation of results because they (results) were not uploaded into a dedicated platform meant for this from the polling units.

At the first trading session of this month, the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited, which had maintained an upward trajectory for the five previous consecutive trading sessions, weakened by 0.53 per cent after Mr Tinubu was announced as the winner of the election organised to produce the next Nigerian to replace President Muhammadu Buhari at Aso Rock on May 29, 2023.

Data obtained by Business Post revealed that investors sold off their shares in the industrial goods and the banking sectors today, resulting in a decline of 0.08 per cent and 0.04 per cent, respectively.

However, the consumer goods counter expanded by 2.48 per cent, the energy space grew by 0.77 per cent, and the insurance sector appreciated by 0.23 per cent.

At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) weakened by 297.65 points to 55,508.61 points from 55,806.26 points, while the market capitalisation went down by N162 billion to N30.239 trillion from N30.401 trillion.

The market breadth was positive in the midweek session, as the bourse closed with 30 price gainers and 11 price losers, indicating a strong investor sentiment.

Veritas Kapital gained 10.00 per cent to settle at 22 Kobo, Ardova rose by 9.76 per cent to N18.55, Wema Bank grew by 8.75 per cent to N4.35, The Initiates expanded by 8.33 per cent to 52 Kobo, and Geregu Power improved by 8.20 per cent to N298.10.

On the flip side, John Holt lost 9.66 per cent to close at N1.59, Ecobank shed 7.69 per cent to finish at N12.00, Airtel Africa depleted by 5.24 per cent to N1,535.00, United Capital depreciated by 3.91 per cent to N14.75, and FTN Cocoa went down by 3.45 per cent to 28 Kobo.

A look at the activity chart showed that a total of 565.8 million shares worth N6.6 billion exchanged hands in 4,340 deals during the session compared with the 237.2 million shares worth N4.4 billion traded in 4,435 deals a day earlier, representing a decline in the number of deals by 2.14 per cent, and an increase in the trading volume and value by 138.53 per cent, and 50.00 per cent, respectively.

The significant increase in the trading volume was due to an off-market deal involving the shares of Capital Hotels. The hospitality firm topped the table with the sale of 333.2 million units.

Transcorp exchanged 47.9 million stocks, GTCO traded 46.6 million equities, Oando sold 20.0 million shares, and Access Holdings transacted 19.4 million stocks.