BY BAMIDELE FAMOOFO
With a loss of about N622 billion after trading closed on Wednesday, investment on the Nigerian Exchange Limited was a nightmare for investors.
The loss was triggered by a huge loss in the shares of Dangote Cement Plc, which is one of the most capitalised stocks on the Exchange.
The largest cement manufacturer in Africa, at the end of business on Wednesday, lost -9.09 percent in share price, dragging down significantly the market capitalization of the NGX.
Selloffs in other index heavyweights like MTN Nigeria Plc (-1.43%) alongside Access Corporation Plc (-0.29%) offset the recoveries in GEREGU (+5.11%), WAPCO (+1.08%) and ETI (+3.33%) underpinning the market’s weak performance.
Bearish sentiment extended in Wednesday’s trading session as the All-Share Index closed 1.75 percent lower to settle at 64,167.39 points, marking its second successive session decline.
Consequently, the year-to-date return fell to 25.20 percent, while market capitalization lost N621.601 billion to close at N34.92 trillion.
Analysis of Wednesday’s market activities showed trade turnover settled lower relative to the previous session, with the value of transactions down by 41.48 percent.
A total of 238.04 million shares valued at N2.62 billion were exchanged in 6,001 deals. STERLINNG (-1.99%) led the volume chart with 32.67m units traded while MTNN (-1.43%) led the value charts in deals worth N468.15 million.
Market breadth closed negative at 1.71-to-1 ratio with declining issues outnumbering advancing ones.
NASCON (-10.00%) topped 23 others on the laggard’s table while MBENEFIT (+6.25%) led 13 others on the leader’s log.
