NSE Declines Ahead of General Elections

• NSE Declines Ahead of General Elections

The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) declined ahead of the rescheduled general elections as investors resume profit taking.

Activity level dropped with market direction as volume and value traded declined by 50.6 per cent and 60.3 per cent to 220.624 million units and N2.241 billion, respectively.

The market capitalisation of listed equities declined from N12.16 trillion on Wednesday to N12.145 trillion on Thursday.

Top traded equities by volume were Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc (24.7 million units), First City Monument Bank Plc (19.2 million units) and Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (16.5 million units), while GTB (N630.2m), Zenith Bank (N402.2m) and Nestlé Nigeria Plc (N192.1m) were the top traded stocks by value.

Linkage Assurance Plc, International Breweries, Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals Plc, Mutual Benefits Assurance Plc and LASACO Assurance Plc, which saw respective declines of 10 per cent, 9.48 per cent, 8.57 per cent, 7.41 per cent and 6.06 per cent, were to losers.

The top five gainers were Ikeja Hotel Plc, Associated Bus Company Plc, UACN Property Development Company Plc, First Aluminium Nigeria Plc and Mcnichols Plc, which gained 9.94 per cent, 8.33 per cent, 8.33 per cent, 6.90 per cent and 6.82 per cent, respectively.