Investors Lose N236b to Sell-Off as NSE Index Sheds 1.51%

By Dipo Olowookere

Massive sell-offs recorded on Wednesday in large cap stocks like Dangote Cement, Total Plc, Nestle and Nigerian Breweries amongst others put an end to the three-day upward movements on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

At the close of business activities at the NSE yesterday, the market depreciated by 1.51 percent with the Year-to-Date (YtD) receding to 12.31 percent.

This came despite the positive investor sentiment reflected by the market breadth yesterday with 26 stocks recording share price appreciation, as against 23 equities, which shed value.

Dangote Cement topped the losers’ chart on Wednesday after suffering a loss of N9.90k to settle at N265 per share.

It was followed by Total, which declined by N9.80k to close at N240.20k per share, and Nestle, which slumped by N5 to finish at N1375 per share.

Nigerian Breweries depreciated by N1.30k on Wednesday to end at N125.60k per share, while GTBank lost 90k to close at N47.60k per share.

On the flip side, Flour Mills emerged the biggest price gainer yesterday, growing by N1.40k to settle at N36 per share.

GlaxoSmithKline appreciated by N1 to finish at N22 per share, while Eterna advanced by 59k to close at N6.40k per share.

Unilever improved by 50k to settle at N60.10k per share, while Cadbury Nigeria increased by 40k to end at N16 per share.

Business Post reports that the All-Share Index (ASI), which measures the market performance, depreciated by 657.07 points on Wednesday to close at 42,952.70 points, while the market capitalisation reduced by N236 billion to end at N15.431 trillion.

The volume and value of trades yesterday depreciated with a total of 270.3 million shares transacted in 4,799 deals worth N5.2 billion in contrast to 445.5 million equities traded on Tuesday in 5,078 deals valued at N6 billion.