Investors lose N713bn in April as stock market tumbles

Investors in the nation’s stock market lost N713bn in April as the stock market declined further, recording a N135bn loss on Tuesday.

The stock market opened the month with a market capitalisation of N11.672tn and an All Share Index of 31,041.42 basis points and closed with a market capitalisation of N10.959tn and ASI of 29,159.74bps on the last trading day of the month.

This brought the total losses recorded by equity investors on the Nigerian Stock Exchange to N713bn in April.

On Tuesday, the ASI shed 1.22 per cent to close at 29,159.74bps as the gains recorded in 26 stocks were offset by major losses recorded in 19 stocks.

Major losses were recorded in Dangote Cement Plc, Nestlé Nigeria Plc and Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc.

A total of 543.924 million stocks valued at N8.2bn were traded in 4,682 deals, representing an 87.4 per cent and 278.8 per cent increase in volume and value traded, respectively,  as the year-to-date return worsened to -7.22 per cent.

The top traded stocks by volume were Cement Company of Northern Nigeria Plc (132.328 million units), FBN Holdings Plc (68.783 million units), Unilever Nigeria Plc (50.470 million units), Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (41.441 million units) and Dangote Flour Plc (37.882 million units).

The top traded stocks by value were Cement Company of Northern Nigeria (N1.86bn), Unilever (N1.56bn), GTB (N1.38bn), Dangote Flour (N712m) and FBN Holdings (N497m).

Performance across sectors was largely bullish as three of five indices closed on a positive note.

The oil and gas index was the highest gainer, up by 1.50 per cent following buying interest in Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc and Forte Oil Plc.

Similarly, the insurance index advanced by 0.11 per cent on the back of major gains recorded in Lasaco Assurance Plc.

The banking index recorded a marginal gain of 0.08 per cent due to major gains in Zenith Bank Plc and Access Bank Plc.

On the flipside, the industrial goods index led decliners, down by 3.19 per cent as a result of profit-taking activities in Dangote Cement Plc and Cement Company of Northern Nigeria.

The consumer goods index declined by 0.67 per cent as a result of major losses witnessed in Nestlé and Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc.

Investor sentiment, as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio), strengthened to 1.4x from 1.0x recorded on Monday.

The top performers were UACN Property Development Company Plc, Japaul Oil and Maritime Services Plc and Caverton Offshore Support Group Plc, which gained 10 per cent each; and Forte Oil Plc and Dangote Flour Mills Plc, whose respective share prices gained 9.97 per cent and 9.94 per cent.

The top five losers were Cutix Plc, Goldlink Insurance Plc, Cement Company of Northern Nigeria, Unity Bank Plc and Nascon Allied Industries Plc, which saw their share prices shed 9.76 per cent, 9.09 per cent, 8.79 per cent, 5.88 per cent and 4.74 per cent, respectively.

Analysts at Afrinvest Securities Limited said, “In the near term, we expect to see bargain hunting activities due to the attractive entry prices of several fundamentally-sound stocks in the market, although this may be short-lived in the absence of major growth triggers in the economy.”