……. Nigeria to commence 24 hours trading settlement cycle
The equities market closed on Tuesday on a negative note, as NSE ASI depreciated by 1.26% to close at 24,514.91basis points, compared with the 0.56% appreciation recorded previously. Its Year-to-Date (YTD) returns currently stands at -14.41%
The market recorded 16 gainers today led by May & Baker with a gain of N0.04 or 5.00 per cent to N0.84 followed by Glaxosmith with a gain of N1.04 or 4.98 per cent to close at N21.93 while Eterna gained N0.09 or 4.92 per cent to close at N1.92 per share.
On the other hand, Champion topped 16 stocks on the losers’ chart with N0.15 loss or 5.00 per cent to close at N2.85 followed by Caverton that lost N0.09 or 4.86 per cent to close at N1.76 per share, and Learn Africa that lost N0.04 or 4.65 per cent to close at N0.82 per share.
Altogether, a total of 290,944,208 shares worth N2.881 billion exchanged hands in 2,934 deals.
Meanwhile, Nigeria is set to commence 24 hours trading settlement circle, even as investors in the Nigerian Capital market are now to get dividend payment within 24 hours through the e-Dividend Payment Platform.
Director General of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Mounir Gwarzo made this disclosure at the e-Dividend Sensitisation Town Hall Meeting in Lagos.
According to him, the proposed system will automatically allow dividends to be credited directly into shareholders’ accounts within 24 hours of payment by the company.
Gwarzo stated that this was one of the initiatives being implemented by the commission as part of its 10 year Capital Market Master Plan to encourage retail investors to return to the market and thereby deepen the market.
According to him “One of our strategies is to target the retail investor, the only way we can deepen the market and ensure that the market is within our own grip is to ensure that the retail investor comes into the market. It is only the domestic investor that no matter the condition of the market, will stay with us, what we have been experiencing in the market is the dominance of the foreign investor where anytime they want to move out of the market they get out and anything they want to come in they do so.
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