Nigeria’s stock market suffered one of its largest single-day losses on Tuesday, shedding N4.6 trillion as investors fled over U.S. President Donald Trump’s military warning and the government’s plan to implement Capital Gains Tax (CGT).
Highly capitalized companies such as Dangote Cement Plc, MTN Nigeria Communications Plc, and BUA Cement Plc all fell by 10 per cent, closing at N594.00, N162.00, and N429.30 per share, respectively.
The NGX market capitalization closed at N89.885 trillion, down 4.91 per cent (N4.6 trillion) from the opening value of N94.526 trillion.
Investors in Dangote Cement lost N1.11 trillion, BUA Cement declined by N609.6 billion, and MTN Nigeria Communications dropped N1 trillion in value.
The NGX All-Share Index plunged 5 per cent, closing at 141,327.30 basis points, down 7,454.60 points from the day’s opening of 148,781.90.
Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date returns also fell to -8.3 per cent and +37.3 per cent, respectively.
Sectoral performance mirrored the downturn.
The NGX Industrial Goods Index fell 8.6 per cent, NGX Banking Index 7.3 per cent, NGX Oil & Gas Index 4.6 per cent, NGX Insurance Index 4.3 per cent, and NGX Consumer Goods Index 2.2 per cent.
Analysts attributed the sharp decline to negative investor sentiment following Trump’s warning and the CGT announcement.
On Truth Social, Trump claimed he instructed the Pentagon to “prepare for possible action” and warned of suspending U.S. aid to Nigeria.
President Bola Tinubu rejected the claims, describing them as a misrepresentation of Nigeria’s consistent efforts to safeguard freedom of religion and belief for all citizens.
Investment banker Tajudeen Olayinka noted, “The combination of these two factors triggered profit-taking in highly capitalized stocks on the NGX.
Companies like Dangote Cement experienced strong downward pressure due to overall negative market sentiment.”
David Adonri, Vice Chairman of HighCap Securities, added, “Short-term market adjustments are normal in a dynamic market like Nigeria’s.
The underlying fundamentals remain strong, and the year-to-date performance highlights the resilience of our capital markets.”