NSE: BREXIT vote triggers panic sale of stocks, N278bn loss

Last Thursday’s referendum on British government to exit the 28-member nations European Union took its toll on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) activities at the resumed trading on Monday, with market capitalisation losing about N278 billion due to panic disposal of stocks by investors.
The market capitalisation, which opened at N10.526 trillion, lost N278 billion, or 2.64 per cent, to close at N10.248 trillion at the close of trading.

Similarly, the market’s All-Share Index dipped by 809.43 points, or 2.64 per cent to close at 29,840.23 points, compared with 30,649.66 points achieved on Friday last week.

Chief Operating Officer, InvestData Limited, Ambrose Omordion, attributed the decline to induced panic selling following investors reaction to the outcome of the referendum, which saw those in support of Britain leaving the EU winning by a vote of 52 to 48.

Following the vote, British prime Minister, David Cameron, announced his decision to step down by October to give way to a new leadership to step in and open negotiations with the EU on the terms and conditions of the final exit from the group.

But Mr. Omordion said that NSE market analysts and investors engaged in panic sale of their stocks out of pressure to allow them understudy the impact of the exit of Britain from the EU on the market.

He, however, expressed optimism that the trend would not last long due to the approaching earnings season around the corner.

The strong profit taking on Zenith Bank, Forte Oil, Seplat Petroleum, GT Bank, Dangote Cement and Guinness Nigeria, Mr. Omordion said, contributed to the loss recorded in the market.

A breakdown of the price movement chart showed that Seplat Petroleum recorded the highest loss of the day, shedding N17.37 per share, to close at N531.60 per share.

It was followed by Forte Oil, which recorded a loss of N10 per share to close at N190, while Dangote Cement shed N8.09 per share to close at N192.11 per share.

Guinness Nigeria lost N1.90 per share to close at N109.90, while Guaranty Trust Bank depreciated by N1.15 per share to close at N23 per share.

Conversely, Total Oil led the gainers’ table, growing by N5 to close at N200 per share, followed by Julius Berger with a gain of N2.20 per share to close at N46.20, while GlaxosmithKline gained N1.10 to close at N23.22 per share.

PZ Industries appreciated by N1.07 to close at N22.65 and UACN improved by 33k to close at N19.99 per share, with NEM Insurance emerging as the toast of investors, exchanging 90.79 million shares worth N82.63 million.

GT Bank came second with an exchange of 56.11 million shares valued at N1.30 billion and FBN Holdings traded 36.67 million shares worth N151.95 million.

United Bank for Africa exchanged 26.41 million shares valued at N125.13 million, while Sterling Bank traded 25.18 million shares worth N38.02 million.

In all, the volume of shares traded closed lower as investors staked N4.03 billion on 375.22 million shares transacted in 4,229 deals against a turnover of 444.51 million shares worth N3.70 billion shares worth N3.70 billion traded in 5,565 deals on Friday.