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The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) market capitalisation on Tuesday lost N152 billion, amidst sell pressure in 27 stocks.
The market capitalisation which opened at N11.945 trillion lost N152 billion or 1.27 per cent, closing at N11.794 trillion.
This was as the All-Share Index (ASI) dipped 290.49 points or 1.27 per cent to close at 22,629.92 compared with 22,920.41 on Monday.
The downturn in the market’s fundamentals was impacted by losses in medium and large capitalised stocks, including Guaranty Trust Bank, Julius Berger, Zenith Bank, Lafarge Africa and Seplat.
Mr Ambrose Omordion, the Chief Operating Officer, InvestData Ltd., who commented on the development attributed it to profit taking to correct the recent sharp divergence between perceived market rallies and economic realities.
Omordion explained that negative news of further crash in crude oil prices following supply surge and low demand due to global lockdown contributed to the price depreciation.
He added that negative macro-economic indices as reflected in March inflation data released yesterday by the National Bureau of Statistics, also contributed to market sentiments. The NSE market breadth closed negative with only four securities on the price gainers chart compared to 27 losers.
The gainers table was dominated by Champion Breweries and Oando in percentage terms, dropping by 10 per cent each, to close at 81k and N2.25 per share, respectively. Lafarge Africa came second after a loss of 9.21 per cent to close at N10.35 per share. Similarly, Fidelity Bank lost 8.99 per cent to close at N1.72, while Chams shed 8.70 per cent to close at 21k per share.
On the other hand, Omoluabi Mortgage Bank led the gainers’ table with 9.09 per cent, to close at 60k per share.
NPF Micro Finance Bank followed with a gain 8.70 per cent to close at N1.25 per share. Lasaco Assurance increased by 4.17 per cent to close at 25k, while Learn Africa appreciated by 2.11 per cent to close at 97k per share. The total volume of shares traded declined by 27.53 per cent as investors transacted 250.35 million shares worth N2.33 billion exchanged in 4,877 deals. This was in contrast with 345.44 million valued N4.21 billion achieved in 4,930 deals on Monday. Transactions in the shares of FBN Holdings topped the activity chart with 71.06 million shares worth N298.70 million.
Zenith Bank accounted for 52.20 million shares valued N695.03 million, while Guaranty Trust Bank traded 24.44 million shares worth N451.86 million. United Bank for Africa sold 15.17 million shares valued N85.91 million, while Fidelity Bank transacted 13.29 million shares worth N22.95 million.
