Market capitalisation dips by N62bn on NSE

The market capitalisation on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) in Lagos dropped by N62 billion or 0.48 per cent at Tuesday’s trading, as major stocks recorded price losses. The stock market closed at N12.967 trillion from the N13.029 trillion recorded on Monday. Also, the All-Share Index, which opened at 40,647.80, dropped by 125.7 points or 0.48 per cent to close at 40,453.61 at the end of trading.

Statistics of capitalisation showed that Nestle led the losers’ chart by N14.35, to close at N1,120.65 per share. Nestle was followed by Guinness, which lost N2 to close at N217, while Nigerian Breweries lost N1.30 to close at N152.20 per share. Also on the losers’ chart were Union Bank of Nigeria whose stock dipped by 83k to close at N8.67, and Zenith Bank, which lost 56k to close at N21.24 per share. On the gainers’ chart, 7UP led with its shares appreciating by N3.57 to close at N74.97 per share. It was followed by Presco, which gained N2.30 to close at N48.48, while Betaglas grew by N1.02 to close at N21.46 per share.

Similarly, Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB’s) shares appreciated by 45k to close at N27.50, while UPL rose by 9k to close at N4.12 per share. The Financial Services Sector remained the toast of investors as FBN Holdings emerged as the most traded stock, accounting for 58.56 million shares worth N836.25 million in 572 deals at the trading. GTBank came second with an exchange of 43.25 million shares valued at N1.19 billion in 335 deals, while UBA followed with a sale of 40.38 million shares worth N326.07 million in 230 deals.

In all, the volume of shares traded decreased by 22.99 per cent as investors exchanged a total of 343.05 million shares worth N4.37 billion in 5,546 deals, as against 445.475 million shares valued at N5.230 billion traded in 4,591 deals on Monday.