NSE market capitalisation drops by N164bn

Trading activities on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) for the second consecutive day maintained a downward trend with the market capitalisation losing N164 billion.
The market capitalisation, which opened at N10.272 trillion on Thursday, lost N164 billion or 1.59 per cent to close at N10.108 trillion.
Also, the All-Share Index lost 29,393.77 points representing 1.59 per cent to close lower at 29,393 compared with 29,870.86 attained on Wednesday following huge loss.
Analysts attributed the persistent bearish trend at the exchange to exit of foreign investors due to drop in oil price at the international market. Analysis of the price movement chart indicated that 23 equities recorded price depreciation.
Nestle recorded the highest price loss dipping by N9.79 to close at N830 per share.
It was trailed by Dangote Cement with a loss of N8.70 to close at N165.30 while Seplat dropped N7.25 to close at N225.21 per share. Lafarge Wapco lost N4 to close at N97, while PZ Cussons depreciated by N1.33 to close at 25.28 per share.
On the other hand, 24 equities recorded price appreciation for Friday. Stanbic IBTC topped the gainers’ chart, with a gain of N1.20 to close at N23.20 per share.
International Breweries garnered 85k to close at N17.86, while GTBank grew by 22k to close at N23.90 per share. UBA increased by 16k to close at N3.46, while Ikeja Hotel gained 15k to close at N3.27 per share. In all, investors staked N2.89 billion on 273.68 million shares transacted in 3,733 deals.
This was against the 439.66 million shares worth N4.53 billion transacted in 4,345 deals on Wednesday. The Financial Service Sector sustained its leading position as the toast of investors with 178.35 million shares worth N757.95 million in 1,438 deals.
The Banking sub-sector drove activities in the sector accounting for 110.33 million shares valued at N640.52 billion achieved in 1,117 deals.