Stock market plunge wipes out N448bn in investor wealth

Onome Amuge

The Nigerian stock market experienced a severe sell-off on Monday, with equities investors incurring losses of over N448 billion. A vicious cycle of selling pressure triggered a sharp decline of 0.74 percent in key performance indicators, kick-starting the new trading week on a negative footing for the Nigerian equity market.

The All-Share Index (ASI) suffered a decline of 740.01 basis points in today’s trading session, bringing it to a close at 98,708.90 points. This negative performance reversed last week’s positive trends and marked a turnaround for the market.

After recording a strong weekly positive performance, with a N835 billion recorded in gains, BUACEMENT, FBNH, and UBA became prime targets for sell-off activity in the Nigerian market.

According to stockbrokers, the market’s activities witnessed a significant decline, as the total volume and total value traded for the day experienced a drop of 23.37 percent and 52.22 percent, respectively.

CHAMS emerged as the most actively traded stock in terms of volume, contributing 23.98 percent of the total volume traded on the NGX.

Other stocks that drove significant trading volumes included UBA (7.65%), ACCESSCORP (6.30%), MCNICHOLS (4.63%), and JAPAULGOLD (4.31%), rounding off the top  five stocks in terms of volume traded on NGX.

United Bank for Africa topped the charts as the most traded stock in terms of value, representing 17.37 percent of the total value of trades on the Nigerian Exchange.

EUNISELL took the lead among the advancers, with its stock price appreciating 10.00 percent, followed closely by LIVESTOCK with a price uptick of 9.97 percent.

A host of stocks also made significant gains in today’s trading session, with TRANSCORP, RTBRISCOE, JAIZBANK, and NSLTECH all recording price appreciation of 9.95 percent, 9.84 percent, 9.28 percent, and 8.93 percent, respectively.

Today’s trading session saw twenty-eight stocks experience a price depreciation, with BUA CEMENT leading the pack of decliners, suffering a 10.00 percent price fall.

Other stocks that recorded significant losses include LASACO (-9.79%), REGALINS (-8.93%), JAPAULGOLD (-6.56%), HONYFLOUR (-6.11%), and NEIMETH (-1.57%), rounding off the top decliners for today’s trading session.

Today’s trading session saw a negative market breadth, with 18 gainers being overshadowed by 28 losers, resulting in an overall bearish sentiment in the Nigerian stock market.

The market sector performance followed suit, with all five major market sectors recording declines.

The industrial sector led the charge with a decline of 3.52 percent, followed closely by the banking sector which shed 1.47 percent, and the insurance sector which dropped by 1.13 percent.

The downward trend in the Nigerian stock market extended to the Oil & Gas sector, with a 0.29 percent loss, and the Consumer goods sector which slowed down by 0.28 percent, rounding off a rough day for equities investors in Nigeria.