Industrial Sector Leads Market’s N140.5bn Decline

• Industrial Goods Sector Leads Market’s N140.5bn Decline

Following the outcome of the Central Bank of Nigeria Monetary Policy Committee Meeting, the industrial goods sector recorded a 1.7 per cent loss, thus, driving a N140.5bn equities loss.

The industrial goods sector’s woes prevailed owing to a dip in the shares of Dangote Cement Nigeria Plc by 3.3 per cent.

Cumulatively, the equities market closed on a negative note at the end of Tuesday trading after the All-Share Index declined by 1.2 per cent to settle at 34,951.27 basis points, while year-to-date gain retreated to 30.1 per cent.

As a result, investors lost N140.5bn as market capitalisation moderated to N12tn.

A total of 500.299 million shares valued at N3.62bn were traded in 3,120 deals.

“The decline in Tuesday’s market performance was largely due to losses recorded in Dangote Cement, Nestle Nigeria Plc and Nigerian Breweries Plc, which recorded declines of 3.3 per cent, 1.6 per cent and 0.6 per cent,” analysts at Afrinvest Securities said in a post.

However, activity level spiked as volume and value traded surged 366.9 per cent and 164.9 per cent to 500.3 million units and N3.6bn, respectively.

The oil/gas index rose by 0.4 per cent on the back of Oando Plc, which appreciated by 3.3 per cent, while the insurance index closed higher by 0.2 per cent as a result of upticks in AxaMansard Insurance Plc NEM Insurance Nigeria Plc.