Nigeria’s stock market lost N2.179 trillion on Thursday as investors scrambled to adjust to the new T+1 settlement rule. Sell-offs hit even strong stocks, pushing market cap down 1.41% to N152.266 trillion from N154.445 trillion.
All-Share Index downed at 3,397.80 points, 1.41% to 237,404.92. YTD return now 52.56%.
Market breadth showed 40 losers vs 13 gainers as negative sentiment dominated.
Biggest losers were Cadbury, Africa Prudential, and Triple Gee each dropped 10% to N62.10, N11.70, and N3.60. John Holt fell 9.93% to N12.25, while McNichols slid 9.33% to N6.80.
Among the top gainers, Legend Internet led with 9.52% to N5.75. NPF Microfinance Bank rose 9.18% to N5.35, and Transcorp added 7.32% to N44. Neimeth and Daar Communications also closed higher.
Trading activity picked up. Volume climbed 4.33% to 691.64 million shares worth N116.85 billion across 50,025 deals. FirstHoldco moved 115.84m shares, 16.75% of total volume. Dangote Cement dominated value with N83.39b, 71.37% of turnover.
Analysts blame the June 1 shift to T+1 settlement for the slide. The Nigerian Exchange now completes trades one day after execution, not two. That removes the extra day institutions used to arrange funds post-trade.
“Traditional investors don’t like prefunding brokers. They’re used to paying after the trade,” Olayinka said. The buy side is thin while they adjust, not because of profit-taking or new public offers. He expects the market to stabilize once investors adapt to prefunding.
