NSE:Capitalisation dips further by N149bn

Huge losses posted by some blue chips on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Tuesday took a toll on its overall performance with market capitalisation slipping further by N149 billion.

The capitalisation shed N149 billion or 1.29 per cent to close at N11.380 trillion against N11.529 trillion posted on Monday.

Also, the All-Share Index which opened at 31,579.72 lost 406.01 points or 1.29 per cent to close at 31,173.71.

Analysts attributed the persistent losses on the stock exchange to political uncertainties ahead of 2019 elections and end of the month activities.

Seplat led the laggards’ table with a loss of N62.70 to close at N590 per share.

Mobil Oil trailed with a loss of N5 to close at N160, while Dangote Cement was down by N2 to close at N193 per share.

Forte Oil dropped N1.90 to close at N17.30, while PZ Cussons declined by N1.15 to close at N10.55 per share.

On the other hand, Beta Glass recorded the highest gain to lead the gainers’ table, gaining N6.20 to close at N68.30 per share.

Nestle followed with a gain of N5 to close at N1,485, while CAP appreciated by N3 to close at N34.95 per share.

Cadbury gained 55k to close at N9.75, while UACN gained 20k to close at N10.10 per share.

In spite of the drop in the indices, the volume of shares transacted increased by 73.77 per cent, while the value grew by 41.75 per cent.

Consequently, 182.23 million shares valued at N2.75 billion were traded by investors in 3,121 deals.

This was in contrast with 104.87 million shares worth N1.94 billion exchanged in 2,911 deals on Monday.

Cement Company of Northern Nigeria was the most active stock, exchanging 37.94 million shares worth N682.87 million.

Access Bank followed with an account of 29.29 million shares valued at N212.25 million, Transcorp sold 22.39 million shares valued at N25.87 million.

United Bank for Africa sold a total of 12.47 million shares worth N93.91 million, while FBN Holdings exchanged 12.06 million shares valued at N88.21 million.