Investors lose N1.1trn as MTN, Zenith, Dangote Sugar decline

Bearish sentiments persisted on the stock market on Tuesday, making investors incurred a loss of N1.1 trillion.

Selloffs in MTN Nigeria, Zenith Bank, Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc (GTCO), Dangote Sugar and United Capital, among others declined equities further drove the market to a negative terrain.

Specifically, the market capitalisation of listed equities, which opened at N64.252 trillion, shed N1.1 trillion or 1.66 per cent, to close at N63.188 trillion.

The All-Share Index also declined by 1.66 per cent or 1,745.2 points, to close at 103,622.09, against 105,367.25 recorded on Monday.

Accordingly, the Year-To-Date (YTD) closed at 0.68 per cent.

Market breadth closed negative with 41 losers and 23 gainers.

Honeywell Flour led the losers’ table by N1.06 to close at N9.54, Julius Berger followed by N15.50 to close at N139.80 per share.

Dangote Cement Plc lost N47.80 to close at N431, Sovereign Trust Insurance and Prestige Assurance shed 12k each to close at N1.12 and N1.17 per share, respectively.

On the other hand, Northern Nigeria Flour Mills led the gainers table by N4.10 to close at N45.10, Livestock Feeds followed by 55k to close at N6.10.

X-Academy added 29k to close at N3.22, UPL rose by 43k to close at N4.81 and Neimeth International Pharmaceutical increased by 28k to close at N3.15 per share.

However, analysis of the market activities showed trade turnover settled higher, relative to the previous session, with the value of transactions up by 55.38 per cent.

A total of 503.31 million shares valued at N12.63 billion were exchanged in 12,900 deals, compared to 505.8 million shares valued at N8.13 billion were traded in 14,255 deals posted in the previous session.

Meanwhile, GTCO emerged as the most actively traded stock in volume and value, with 54.4 million shares worth N3.2 billion.