The free fall of equities at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) continued on Wednesday with market capitalisation dropping by N36 billion to close at N10.457 trillion.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the fall in the value of transactions at the market was 0.34 per cent from N10.493 trillion achieved on Tuesday.
Similarly, the All-Share Index lost 103.86 points or 0.34 per cent to close at 30,510.95 as against 30,614.81 recorded on Tuesday.
Commenting on the market downturn, Mr Mounir Gwarzo, the Director-General, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), said that the commission was not happy with the market performance.
Gwarzo said that SEC would continue to engage domestic investors with the major aim of bringing them back to the market, noting that the fundamentals were strong.
“We are not happy with the performance of the market but that is how the market operates all over the world,” he said.
He said that domestic investors were critical in bringing back the market, recalling that the e-dividend payment platform was launched to boost investor confidence.
Gwarzo said that the commission had embarked on massive media campaign to reach out to local investors.
Also speaking, Mr Ade Bajomo, Executive Director, Market Operations, Nigerian Stock Exchange, said that the market was reacting to the developments in the economy.
Bajomo said “the market is well regulated and regulators are putting in strong process to ensure stronger regulation and in due time, you will see the market recovering.”
At the close of trading, Guinness topped the losers’ chart, dropping by N4.60 per share to close at N134 per share.
Seplat shed N4 to close at N315 per share, while Glaxo Smithkline dropped N2 to close at N40 per share.
CAP lost N1.95 to close at N37.95 per share and Nigerian Breweries declined by N1.02 to close at N122 per share.
Conversely, Mobil Oil led the gainers’ table, growing by N5.98 to close at N155.98 per share.
Beta Glass followed with a gain of N1.97 to close at N41.47 per share, while Flour Mills gained 98k to close at N28.98 per share.
Dangote Cement increased by 51k to close at N170.52 per share, while Champion Breweries grew by 25k to close at N5.36 per share.
Zenith drove the volume of shares traded with 59.96 million shares worth N994.05 million achieved in 355 deals.
GT Bank sold 54.52 million shares valued at N839.69 million in 322 deals, while FBN Holdings transacted 18.13 million shares worth N136.19 million achieved in 367 deals.
Access Bank exchanged 12.34 million shares valued N60.69 million traded in 163 deals, while Evans Medical traded 11.52 million shares worth N6.07 million in 34 deals.
Source : Leadership