Equity market drops further by 0.55%

The free fall of stocks continued on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Tuesday with the All-Share Index dropping further by 0.55 per cent.
The index lost 140.43 points or 0.55 per cent to close at 25, 446.66 against 25,587.09 achieved on Monday.
Also, the market capitalisation which opened at N8.818 trillion shed N49 billion to close at N8.769 trillion.
A breakdown of the price movement table indicated that Nestle Nigeria recorded the highest loss for the day, dropping N34 to close at N646 per share.
Forte Oil trailed with a loss of N3.93 to close at N56.82 and Nigerian Breweries shed N2.60 to close at N130.90 per share.
Guinness was down by N1.24 to close at N64.98, while International Breweries depreciated by 84k to close at N16.15 per share.
On the other hand, Total Nigeria led the gainers’ table with a gain of N8 to close at N270 per share.
Presco followed with a gain of N2.18 to close at N46.30 and Betaglass appreciated by N1.50 to close at N31.50 per share.
Dangote Cement increased by 99k to close at N166, while Guaranty Trust Bank advanced by 42k to close at N23.50 per share.
Diamond Bank was the most traded stock, exchanging 31.49 million shares worth N27.05 million.
Fidelity Bank followed with an account of 25.09 million shares worth N21.80 million and United Bank for Africa traded 22.20 million shares valued at N108.14 million.
Staco Insurance sold 20 million shares worth N10 million and Zenith International Bank exchanged 16.68 million shares valued at N280.42 million.
Volume of shares traded increased by 35.95 per cent as investors accounted for 209.18 million shares worth N1.58 billion against 152.39 million shares N903.53 million.