The Nigerian stock market experienced another downturn on Thursday, resulting in a loss of N112 billion in market capitalization. This comes after a previous loss of N27 billion on Wednesday, as market activities slowed down due to the anticipation of the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal’s decision. The tribunal confirmed President Bola Tinubu’s victory in the February polls.
As a consequence, the market capitalization dropped by 0.29 percent, closing at N37.261 trillion. Similarly, the NGX All-Share Index saw a decline of 204.17 basis points, closing at 68,082.11.
Although the volume of shares traded decreased to 378.089 million, the value of the traded shares increased to N8.38 billion compared to the previous trading figure of N5.48 billion. These transactions occurred in 8,106 deals.
Market sentiment was predominantly negative, evident in the figures of 30 losers against 25 winners. Nestle, for instance, experienced a 1.39 percent drop in share value, closing at N1.075. Zenith Bank also lost 0.14 percent, closing at N36.95. NASCON saw a significant dip of 6.83 percent, ending trading at N56.60 per unit. Dangote Sugar followed suit with a 3.98 percent loss, closing at N64.
Both Dangote Sugar and NASCON Allied Industries are currently in the process of merging with Dangote Rice Limited. Analysts from the asset management firm, Meristem, projected that the new entity’s share price will range between N60 and N70.
On a positive note, Betaglas emerged as the top gainer, with shares appreciating by 9.97 percent, closing at N51.85. This was followed by Cadbury, which gained 9.86 percent, closing at N15.60. Computer Warehouse Group also experienced a rise of 9.81 percent, reaching N5.26. Additionally, Tantalizer, a fast-food company, saw a 9.52 percent gain, closing at N0.46, while Guinea Insurance gained 9.09 percent, closing at N0.36.
The most traded stocks included Oando, with 91,635,279 units valued at N678 million, and Omatek, which had 29,972,966 million units worth N19 million traded. Dangote Sugar also recorded significant trading activity, with over 23 million units valued at N1.48 billion. Two banking stocks featured among the top five trades: Fidelity Bank, with 22,165,622 million shares worth over N193 million, and Accesscorp, with over 20 million units traded, totaling over N361 million.