Investors in equities market lose N380bn

Investors on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) suffered a loss of N380 billion in the month of October as the market capitalisation dropped by or 3.95 per cent to close at N9.35 trillion, against N9.73 trillion achieved in September.

Also, the NSE All-Share Index lost 1,115.31 basis points or 3.94 per cent to close at 27,220.09 basis points from   28,335.40 basis points recorded in September.

Analysts attributed the decline in equities market to profit taking by investors as well a reaction to poor corporate earnings by listed of companies that released their third quarter report of 2016.

Equally, the volume of shares traded in the month was also affected as it stood at 3.67 billion valued at N32.02 billion transacted in 55,397 deals. This was lower than 7.95 billion shares valued at N47.39 billion traded in 65,193 deals in September.

This translates to 53.84 per cent drop in the volume of shares traded by investors on the Exchange in the month of October.

The monthly statistics of transactions on the Exchange revealed that as usual, the Financial Service Sector recorded the highest volume of activities as it accounted for 2.59 billion shares worth N12.26 billion transacted in 22,698 deals.

Premium Board Sector came second with a total of 455.26 million shares valued at N4.53 billion achieved in 9,081 deals as the Conglomerates industry came third with 244.46 million shares worth N434.95 million transacted in 2,326 deals and the Consumer Goods Sector sold 147.59 million shares valued at N7.62 billion in 9,735 deals.

Forte Oil emerged as the worst performing stock during the period under review in percentage terms, dropping by 27.67 per cent or N45.90 to close at N120 per share against its month opening price of N165.90.

NAHCO recorded a loss of 25.72 per cent or 0.89k to close at N2.57 per share against N3.46 it closed for the month of September, Ashaka Cement lost 24.65 per cent or N4.01 to close at N12.26 against N16.27 achieved in September, while Glaxosmithkline lost 23.88 per cent or N4.68 to close at N14.92 compared with N19.60 with which it closed in September.

Going by percentage consideration, the best performing stock for the month was Caverton which appreciated by 44.74 per cent to close at N1.10 per share compared with 76k it opened the month trading.