Election anxiety drags stock market index further by 1.2%

Sell pressure ahead of the 2019 election has continued to propel volatility on the equity sector of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), as the All-share index recorded a loss of 1.2 per cent.

Specifically, at the close of transactions yesterday, the All share index (ASI) shed 364.13 absolute points, representing a dip of 1.20 per cent to close at 30,036.15.

Similarly, the market capitalisation shed N136 billion at N11.201 trillion.Tuesday’s downturn was impacted by price depreciation in medium and large capitalised stocks, among which are, Forte Oil, Presco, Guaranty Trust Bank, Flour Mills Nigeria, and Zenith Bank.

Analysts at Afrinvest Limited, said: “We believe that the bearish sentiment in the local bourse will remain driven by political jitters on the back of preparations for Nigeria’s presidential elections. We however expect mild bargain hunting to uplift market performance in tomorrow’s trading session.”
Market breadth closed negative with 12 gainers against 28 losers. John Holt recorded the highest price gain of 9.09 per cent to close at 48 kobo per share. Okomu Oil followed with a gain of 7.93 per cent to close at N83.75, while Union Bank of Nigeria (UBN) rose by 3.45 per cent to close at N6 per share, respectively.

Lafarge Africa appreciated 3.08 per cent to close at N11.70, while Honeywell Flour rose 2.70 per cent to close at N1.14 per share, respectively.
On the other hand, NEM Insurance led the losers’ chart by 9.40 per cent to close at N2.12 per share. Northern Nigeria Flour Mills (NNFM) followed with a decline of 9.38 per cent to close at N4.35, and Wapic Insurance fell 9.09 per cent to close at 40 kobo per share respectively.

Unity Bank was down by nine per cent to close at 91 kobo, while Aiico Insurance fell 8.82 per cent to close at 63 kobo per share, correspondingly.
Total volume traded went down marginally by 2.85 per cent to 216.25 million units, valued at N2.67 billion, and exchanged in 4,508 deals. Zenith Bank traded with 32.84 million shares valued at N679.77 million. FBN Holding followed with 27.46 million shares worth N199.3 million, while Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp)  traded 26.37 million shares at N31.15 million.Guaranty Trust Bank traded 18.69 million shares valued at N608.01 million, while Diamond Bank transacted 14.91 million shares worth N28.22 million.