These are certainly bad times for Nigeria’s equity market, as its stock Index lost about 4.9% when it closed at 24,388.66 points by the close of trading on Tuesday, the sharpest fall in a day since March 2010.
The banking sector, most liquid sector, saw the worst of the sell-off, losing about 13% on Tuesday. The major decliners are Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, MTN Nigeria, Fidelity Bank, and Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc all fell by 10%. Guaranty Trust Bank, Nigerian Breweries Plc were among stocks to close 9.9% lower.
In Asian trading session, Japanese stocks settled higher on Tuesday after a volatile session that saw shares fall on worries over the economic impact of the coronavirus epidemic and an oil price crash before a surge as investors bought undervalued stocks.
The Nikkei average finished 0.9% higher at 19,867.12, having earlier fallen to a three-year low of 18,891.77. It moved as much as 1,078.23 points in intraday trade, marking its largest daily swing since February 2018.
In Europe, the pan-European STOXX 600 index closed 1.1% down, slipping further into bear territory after marking its worst day since the 2008 financial crisis on Monday.
In America’s trading session its three major indexes rebounded on Tuesday as investors pinned their hopes on policy easing by major central banks after global markets plummeted in the previous session on fears of a coronavirus-driven recession.
At 6:36 p.m. Nigerian local time, the Dow 30 Index was up 61.56 points, or 0.26%, at 23,912.58, and the S&P 500 was up 14.19 points, or 0.52%, at 2,760.75. The Nasdaq 100 Index was also up 80.02 points, or 1.01%, at 8,030.7
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In the cryptocurrency market Bitcoin is struggling to stay above $8,000, after just two weeks ago the asset was trading above the psychological level of $10,000.The cryptocurrency had been up by over 50% year-to-date before growing concerns over the rapid spread of the coronavirus caused widespread fears to spill into financial markets.
In the commodities market, Oil prices clawed back some of the losses from Monday’s epic drop as Wall Street put in a modest rebound as well on the Trump administration’s pledge to cut taxes and provide another stimulus as a balm for those affected by Covid-19.
Brent oil, the London-traded benchmark for crude, gained $2.08, or 6.1%, to $36.44. Gold spot price settled lower on Tuesday, following gains in each of the last three sessions, stock indexes in Asia and the U.S. strengthened. it was trading $1,655 losing % about 1.48