Investors lose $50 million on the Nigerian stock market ahead of the 2019 general elections

Investors shed N18.05 billion ($50 million) on the Nigerian Stock Exchange ahead of 2019 presidential elections.
Investors still have fears over the outcome of the 2019 presidential elections scheduled for Saturday.
NSE market capitalisation stands at N12.1 trillion.
Analysts expect to see sustained profit taking in the last two sessions before the elections.

Investors on the equity market lost N18.05 billion (about $50 million) as bellwethers dragged the Nigerian Stock Exchange down to closed on a negative note on Wednesday.

The NSE All-Share Index dropped 0.15% to close at 32,413.92 basis points as against a 2.14% appreciation recorded on Tuesday.

Africa's populous nation Year-to-Date (YTD) returns currently stands bullish at 3.13% while market capitalisation declined by N18.05 billion to N12.1 trillion as the 2019 general elections near.

Furthermore, on overall performance, activity level declined as volume and value traded fell 19.0% and 47.2% to N4.2 billion and N470.3 million respectively.

Profit taking in bellwethers drag NSE down few days to 2019 general elections ece-auto-gen

Some investors still have fears over the outcome of the 2019 presidential elections scheduled for Saturday, February 16, 2019. Profit takers also contributed to the performance of the stocks, according to analysts at Afrinvest.

The Lagos-based investment firm expects to see sustained profit taking in previous advancers in the last two sessions before the elections.

Business Insider SSA by Pulse's analysis of the market shows negative as Unilever led top gainers on the chart while CI leasing top the 22 losers at the end of Wednesday's trading session.

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The number of gainers at the close of the trading session was 19. Further analysis also showed that Unilever increased by 10.00%, Okomu oil, 3.41%, Nigerian Breweries, 1.19%, CCNN, 4.52% and Berger at 10.00%.

See top five losers by share price:

CI Leasing - 9.95%
Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) - 2.6%
PZ - 9.43%
Forte Oil - 5.72%
Seplat - 3.3%

Investors prefer Atiku to win

Muhammadu Buhari and Atiku Abubakar ece-auto-gen

Analysts at Citigroup on Monday said that the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) may rebound if President Muhammadu Buhari loses Saturday's election.

In a report by Bloomberg, the development will help the Nigerian market gain momentum after falling more than any other market in the world in dollar terms since 2015.

His main challenger, Atiku Abubakar has promised to privatise state assets including NNPC and float the naira, a stand President Muhammadu Buhari is against.