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Chinwendu Obienyi
The volume of transactions on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), yesterday, fell by 23.9 per cent following another round of price depreciations amidst coronavirus outbreak and its attendant crash in crude oil price.
This was even as market capitalisation fell to N11.827 trillion from an initial opening value of N13.365 trillion on Monday, meaning that investors lost a total of N1.86 trillion in four consecutive trading sessions.
This was even as the All Share Index (ASI) also headed south with 3.72 per cent drop to 22,695.88 points while the YTD loss worsened to -15.4 per cent.
Market analysts say the massive crash in crude oil price and the constant pressure on the country’s foreign reserve due to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s sustained intervention in the market is having negative effect on the value of the Naira. According to them, the severe pressure on Nigeria’s foreign exchange market has led to significant depreciation of the Naira across all the market segments including its stock market.
Furthermore, the volume and value of stocks traded on the domestic bourse fell by 23.9 per cent and 44.4 per cent to 1.1 billion units and N9.8 billion respectively, exchanged in 5,501 deals.
Further analysis of the market’s performance indicated that 44 equities depreciated in value while 3 others appreciated. Africa Prudential topped the losers’ chart with 10 per cent to close at N3.60 per share, Fidelity Bank was next with 10 per cent to close at N1.53, Flourmill dropped 10 per cent to close at N19.80, Nigerian Breweries lost 10 per cent to close at N29.70 while Oando fell by 10 per cent to close at N1.89.
On the otherhand, Caverton inched up by 10 per cent to close at N2.31 per share. Sky Aviation increased by 9.83 per cent to close at N2.57 while Stanbic garnered 3.35 per cent to close at N29.30.
Zenith Bank drove the volume chart with the sale of 433.15 million shares valued at N4.70 billion. UBA traded about 371.33 million shares worth N2.08 billion while GT Bank sold 62.18 million shares valued at N1.13 billion.
