Modupe Gbadeyanka
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
A further decline was recorded on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Thursday as uncertainty over the direction of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on the foreign exchange system weighed on the market.
This week, it was reported that the central bank had finally floated the Naira. This came from an information posted on the website of the CBN that said the local currency was now market driven.
However, the apex bank quickly reacted to the news, saying the current multiple exchange systems were still in place, removing the ‘wrong’ information from its website.
The fears created by this issue led to some foreign portfolio investors taking out their money out of the capital market, where their funds are tied to.
At the early hours of trading yesterday, the market was looking like it would record its first gains in some days, but it soon evaporated, closing 0.23 percent lower.
This left the All-Share Index (ASI) going down by 70.68 points to finish at 30,029.15 points, while the market capitalisation went down by N31 billion to settle at N13.225 trillion.
Despite the worries of foreign portfolio investors, local investors took the opportunity of the low prices stocks are trading to increase their holdings.
This resulted in the rise in the volume and value of shares transacted yesterday on the floor of the exchange, which jumped by 3.93 percent and 69.19 percent respectively.
A total of 242.6 million shares worth N6 billion were transacted on Thursday in 3,153 deals against the 233.5 million equities worth N3.5 billion traded on Wednesday in 3,169 deals.
GTBank was the most traded equity on the nation’s bourse yesterday, trading 78.3 units of its stock for N2.4 billion.
Zenith Bank transacted 34 million shares worth N681.3 million, while UBA exchanged 25.5 million equities valued at N158.9 million.
Ecobank sold 18.1 million shares for N177 million, while MTN Nigeria traded 9.5 million equities worth N1.3 billion.
On the price movement chart, Presco took the first spot on the losers’ chart with a price depreciation of N3 to close at N55 per share.
Dangote Cement declined by N2 to finish at N183 per share, while C&I Leasing went down by 69 kobo to settle at N6.30k per share.
Dangote Sugar lost 30 kobo to close at N10.70k per share, while UAC Nigeria depreciated by 20 kobo to end at N6.20k per share.
