NSE market capitalisation loses N180bn

The Nigerian equity market on Tuesday depreciated further with the market capitalisation losing N180 billion due to persistent profit taking embarked upon by investors. Market capitalisation lost N180 billion or 1.95 per cent to close at N9.075 trillion against N9.255 trillion recorded on Monday following massive losses by blue chip equities. Similarly, the All-Share Index which opened at 26,887.54 lost 523.27 points or 1.95 per cent to close at 26,364.27.

The weak sentiments of investors forced Dangote Cement to shed N8.42 to close at N184.01 per share. Forte Oil came second with a loss of N5.98 to close at N113.72, while Lafarge Africa dropped N2.74 to close at N52.14 per share. Okomu Oil was down by N2.30 to close at N44.70, while UACN depreciated by 93k to close at N17.67 per share. On the other hand, Guinness led the gainers’ table gaining N2.50 to close at N88.50 per share.Nigerian Breweries followed with a gain of N2 to close at N144 and CAP appreciated by N1.62 to close at N34.02 per share.

Glaxosmithkline improved by 75k to close at N15.75 and Eterna Oil gained 14k to close at N3.36 per share. Despite of the drop in market indicators, the volume of shares traded closed higher with a total of 189.01 million shares valued at N1.60 billion exchanged in 3,434 deals. This was in contrast with a turnover of 115.04 million shares worth N1.16 billion traded in 2,963 deals on Monday. Chams topped the activity chart with 40.10 million shares valued at N20.05 million.

It was followed by United Bank for Africa trading 28.61 million shares worth N122.84 million and Transcorp sold 18.05 million shares valued at N16.08 million. Guaranty Trust Bank accounted for 16.75 million shares worth N359.85 million, while Zenith Bank exchanged 14.12 million shares valued at N207.74 million.