Nigerian stocks dropped to a three-month low, after President Muhammadu Buhari announced he would seek a reelection in 2019
Reuters News Agency reports that the stock market, which opened on a losing streak after Lafarge Africa announced a surprise 2017 loss, worsened its decline.
The equity market fell near 40,000 points.
Unilever, Lafarge, Dangote Cement, Guinness and Dangote Flour were the top five losers on the market.
Market capitalisation, which opened at N14.753 trillion, shed N150 billion to close at N14.603 trillion.
Also, the All-Share Index dipped by 411.98 points to close at 40,429.18 compared with 40,841.14 posted on Friday, April 6.
The last time All-Share Index was in this region was on January 9 when it stood at 40,362.97 points.
Unilever recorded the highest loss to lead the losers’ table, shedding N4.80 to close at N55 per share.
Lafarge Africa trailed with a loss of N3.20 to close at N41 in spite of N1.50 final dividend declared for the financial year ended Dec. 31, 2017.
Dangote Cement shed N2.90 to close at N252, while Guinness depreciated by N1 to close at N103.
Dangote Flour also lost 65k to close at N13.15 per share.
This came as Buhari declared at the National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting of the All Progressives Congress, that he will contest in next year’s election.
The news has led to mixed reactions from Nigerians as some expressed gladness, while others criticized the president for making such decision despite challenges facing the country.
Buhari defeated Goodluck Jonathan in 2015 to become president, after previously failing to win in three consecutive polls.
