The Nigerian stock market reversed its bullish run, yesterday to open trading for this week with a decline of 1.61 per cent, as investors reacted to last weekend’s postponement of the nation’s presidential elections. In summary, the All- Share- Index (ASI) shed 525.13 absolute points, representing a dip of 1.61 per cent to close at 32,190.07 points. Similarly, the market capitalisation shed N196 billion at N12.004 trillion. The downturn was impacted by losses recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are; Total Nigeria, Mobil Nigeria, Nigerian Breweries, Guaranty Trust Bank and Cement Company of Northern Nigeria (CCNN). Analysts at Afrinvest Limited stated that “we anticipate the bearish run to be sustained this week due to pre-election jitters caused by the uncertainties surrounding the elections.” Analysts at APT Securities and Funds Limited said that “a day or two down days is expected to moderate the gains so far. However, we are optimistic that positive trend will likely continue as its been perceived that new economic reforms will have an ample effect on the stock market.” Market breadth closed negative with 12 gainers against 37 losers. Presco recorded the highest price gain of 10 per cent, to close at N72.60, per share. Beta Glass followed with a gain of 9.27 per cent, to close at N79, while Chemical and Allied Products (CAP) rose by 6.92 percent to close at N34, per share. AG Leventis Nigeria appreciated by 6.90 per cent to close at 31 kobo, while Vitafoam Nigeria went up by 5.82 per cent to close at N4 per share. On the other hand, Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) led the losers’ chart by 9.94 per cent, to close at N1.54, per share. CI Leasing followed with a decline 9.82 per cent to close at N6.61, while Livestock Feeds depreciated by 9.72 per cent to close at 65 kobo, per share. Wema Bank declined by 9.71 per cent to close at 93 kobo, while Nigerian Breweries was down by 9.64 per cent to close at N75 per share. Total volume of trades declined by 71.2 per cent to 233.42 million units, valued at N3.36 billion and exchanged in 4,134 deals. Access Bank traded with 25.32 million shares valued at N160.16 million. Chams followed with 21.7 million shares worth N.34 million, while United Bank for Africa (UBA) traded 20.45 million shares valued at N157.19 million. Zenith Bank traded 15.68 million shares valued at N375.32 million, while Guaranty Trust Bank transacted 13.86 million shares worth N519.12 million.
