Investors Lose N260bn on Monday as COVID19 Spreads

• Investors Lose N260bn on Monday as COVID19 Spreads

Investors on the trading floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange lost another N260 billion as market sentiment remains largely weak amid the surging number of confirmed cases.

The market capitalisation of listed equities declined by N260 billion from N11.568 trillion it closed on Friday to N11.308 trillion on Monday. While the NSE All-Share Index also dipped by 2.24 percent or 497.45 basis points from 22,198.43 recorded on Friday to 21,700.98 basis points.

Total shares of 464.4 million were traded in 5,883 transactions during the trading session. The premium subsector was the most active by volume with 232.6 million shares exchanged in 3,178 transactions.

The surge in the activity of the subsector was due to the increase in activity of FBNH Plc and Zenith Bank Plc.

Similarly, the banking subsector was aided by the surge in activities of GTBank Plc and Fidelity Bank Plc, accounting for a combined turnover of 97.7 million shares in 1.094 deals.

Neimeth Pharmaceuticals Plc led gainers’ chart with 10 per cent to close at 44 kobo per share while May and Baker Plc followed with 8.94 per cent to close at N1.95 per share. Custodian and Allied Investment Plc added 8.65 per cent to close at N5.65 per share.

The Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Tuesday said the total number of confirmed cases rose to 42, representing around 30 in new cases in the last six days.

This coupled with weak foreign reserves amid low oil prices continues to hurt the nation’s attractiveness at a period when investors are abandoning emerging economies for safe haven. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Saturday announced it would inject N3.5 trillion into the economy while investors and businesses welcome the package, it was not enough to halt market decline as sentiment remains largely week.

Investors King reported this morning that Nigeria has slashed its oil selling price by a record amount to lure buyers for the remaining 70 per cent of April cargoes before announcing May loading programmes. The inability to sell Nigerian oil despite low crude oil prices remain a concern and put the nation in a tough position.