Stock Investors Lose N97.9 billion on Tuesday

• Stock Investors Lose N97.9 billion on Tuesday

The Nigerian Stock Exchange market extended its losses on Tuesday as 15 firms closed in the red amid weak market sentiment.

Market capitalisation of listed equities declined by N97.9 billion to close at N13.25 trillion, pushing the year-to-date loss to 4.3 percent. While the All-Share Index fell by 0.7 percent to close at 30,099.83 points.

Activity level on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange was mixed as volume traded declined by 5.6 percent to 233.5 million shares valued at N3.5 billion.

Unilever Nigeria Plc led ten stocks that closed in the green on Tuesday, while Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc emerged the top loser.

Experts at Afrinvest Securities said performance was largely bearish across all indices with the exception of the insurance index that gained 0.5 percent.

The analysts said, “Conversely, the industrial goods index led decliners, down 1.1 percent following price depreciation in Dangote Cement (-2.1 percent) and Cutix Plc (-2.7 percent).

“The oil and gas index shed 0.8 percent on the back of losses in 11 Plc (-3.8 percent). In the same vein, the Afrinvest ICT and banking indices declined by 0.7 percent and 0.2 percent respectively as investors exited positions in MTN Nigeria Communications Plc (-0.7 percent), United Bank for Africa (-2.00 percent), and Zenith Bank Plc (-1.5 percent).”

Losses in Nigerian Breweries (-1.7 percent) and Dangote Sugar Refinery (-4.4 percent) plunged consumer goods index by two basis points

“Investor sentiment as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio) weakened to 0.6x from 0.8x recorded the previous day. We expect the bearish sentiment in the market to persist in the near term,” the analysts said.