NSE LIVE! Dangote loses N100bn in five hours as equities dwindle

Nigeria and Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, lost more than N100 billion within the five-hour trading session at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Thursday as the shares of his main business, Dangote Cement Plc, came under intense selloff.
Dangote Cement’s share price dropped by N6.97 to close at N167.02, representing a total loss of N118.77 billion. Dangote Cement, the most capitalised quoted company in Nigeria, has total issued shares of 17.04 billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each.
Aliko Dangote’s Dangote Industries Limited (DIL) owns some 85 per cent majority equity stake in Dangote Cement.
The loss by Dangote Cement, the highest in terms of value, overshadowed large price gains across sectors. While there were 17 advancers to 16 decliners, the decline suffered by Dangote Cement left the overall market position with a net capital loss of N97 billion.Dangote Cement accounts for nearly one-third of total market capitalisation at the Exchange.
The All Share Index (ASI), the common value-based index that tracks prices at the Exchange, dropped by 1.07 per cent from 26,495.04 points to close at 26,212.09 points. Aggregate market value of all quoted equities also dropped from N9.116 trillion to close at N9.019 trillion.
With the third consecutive decline, the average year-to-date return at the stock market so far this year stood at -2.47 per cent.
Sectoral analysis showed a largely negative trend, driven by losses suffered by high-cap stocks. The NSE Industrial Goods Index, where Dangote Cement is listed, recorded above-average decline of 1.8 per cent. The NSE Consumer Goods Index dropped by 0.29 per cent while the NSE Oil & Gas Index slipped by 0.14 per cent. On the upside, the NSE Banking Index rose by 1.7 per cent while the NSE Insurance Index appreciated by 0.7 per cent.
Other top losers included Guinness Nigeria, which dropped by N4.15 to close at N78.90; Forte Oil, which lost N2.85 to close at N80.75; Stanbic IBTC Holdings, which dropped by 63 kobo to N15; Nigerian Aviation Handling Company, which lost 30 kobo to close at N2.86; Dangote Flour Mills, which declined by 21 kobo to close at N4.04 per share and Custodian and Allied, which dropped by 19 kobo to close at N3.70 per share.
Total turnover stood at 137.69 million shares valued at N898.71 million in 2,488 deals. Fidelity Bank was the most active stock with a turnover of 25.06 million shares worth N20.98 million. Diamond Bank followed with 16.95 million shares worth N15.26 million while United Capital placed third with 11.04 million shares valued at N31.84 million.
On the positive side, Beta Glass and CAP led the gainers with a gain of N1 each to close at N30 and N33 respectively. Guaranty Trust Bank followed with a gain of 57 kobo to close at N23.47. Access Bank rose by 29 kobo to N6.14. Oando rallied 24 kobo to close at N4.54.
Cadbury Nigeria rose by 22 kobo to N10. UACN Property Development Company chalked up 21 kobo to close at N3.09 per share. Ecobank Transnational Incorporated added 19 kobo to close at N9.73. Eterna rose by 14 kobo to N3.20 while FBN Holdings garnered 11 kobo to close at N3.44 per share.