NSE investors lose N287bn in five hours

Investors on the Nigerian Stock Exchange lost N287 billion in the five trading hours of Friday; a move that saw market capitalisation drop below the N13 trillion mark.

The last time the market experienced a loss of this magnitude was on August 15, 2017.

The All-Share Index lost 786.19 points or 2.17 per cent to close at 35,446.47 compared with 36,232.66 on Thursday.

Dangote Cement topped the laggards’ chart, losing N14 to close at N214 per share.

Total trailed with a loss of N5 to close at N185, while Lafarge Africa lost N1.90 to close at N28 per share.

GlaxoSmithKline shed N1.70 to close at N15.30, while ETI declined by N1.10 to close at N21.05 per share.

Conversely, Mobil Oil led the gainers’ table, gaining N6 to close at N176 per share.

International Breweries came second with a gain of N1 to close at N32, while Eterna gained 45k to close at N6.55 per share.

FBN Holdings appreciated by 10k to close at N9.60, while Oando also increased by 10k to close at N5.55 per share.

In spite of the drop in market indices, the volume of shares traded closed higher as investors bought and sold 192.99 million shares valued at N2.03 billion exchanged in 3,025 deals.

This was in contrast with a turnover of 188.26 million shares worth N1.29 billion achieved in 2,795 deals on Thursday.

United Bank for Africa was the most active stock during the day, exchanging 52.10 million shares worth N496.19 million.

Transcorp came second with 18.52 million shares valued at N21.63 million, while Courteville sold 14.73 million shares worth N3.07 million.

NAN reports that Zenith Bank traded 11.83 million shares valued at N279.11 million.