Nigerian stock market records loss on first day of August

Trading resumed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) in August with a loss of 1.09 per cent following losses posted by some highly capitalised stocks.

Our correspondent reports that market capitalisation shed N146 billion on Wednesday to close at N13.263 trillion as against N13.409 trillion on Tuesday.

Also, the All-Share Index nosedived by 404.96 points or 1.09 per cent to close at 36,612.82 compared with 37,017.78 recorded on Tuesday.

Nestle Nigeria led the losers’ table with a loss of N40 to close at N1, 560 per share.

International Breweries trailed with a loss of N3.60 to close at N33.40, while CAP dropped N3.50 to close at N31.50 per share.

Dangote Cement was down by N3 to close at N231, while Nigerian Breweries declined by N2 to close at N103 per share.

On the other hand, Total topped the gainers’ table for the day, gaining N7 to close at N190 per share.

Okomu Oil Palm followed with a gain of N6.30 to close at N81, while Beta Glass appreciated by N1.05 to close at N78 per share.

Lafarge Africa gained 50k to close at N28, while Ecobank International Incorporated appreciated by 50k to close at N20.80 per share.

An analysis of the activity chart indicates that Zenith International Bank was the toast of investors, trading 94.86 million shares worth N2.19 billion.

United Bank for Africa followed with an account of 28.67million shares valued at N271.89 million, while Nigerian Breweries traded 15.11 million shares worth N1.55 billion.

Fidelity Bank exchanged 12.62 million shares valued at N23.57 million, while Sterling Bank sold 8.18 million shares worth N11.73 million.

In all, a total of 240.21 million shares valued at N4.99 billion was transacted by investors in 3,494 deals.

This was in contrast with 244.97 million shares worth N4.49 billion exchanged in 5,945 deals on Tuesday.

InvestData analysts said investment in the month of August would be dicey with uncertainties surrounding the 2019 general elections coupled with mass defections by politicians from one party to the other.

They said August performance of the capital market in the last four years had been negative, therefore urging investors should invest for long-term.

They said uncertainties surrounding pre-election periods should be factored in since political parties were expected to select candidates for various positions for 2019 election in August.