Nigeria, July 1 -- Profit-taking, dividend-related changes, and portfolio reallocation significantly affected large companies across multiple industries, ending months of strong performance.



The News Chronicle reports that the benchmark All Share Index dropped 8.28 percent over the month, therefore lowering the market's year-to-date return from over 60 percent at end-May to 47.43 percent.



June was the worst month ever in value terms for the Nigerian stock market as market capitalization also declined from N160.5 trillion to N147.2 trillion.

Analysts attributed the decline to changes in liquidity related to the Dangote Group's private placement, a sluggish mood following FTSE Russell's postponement of Nigeria's possible return to...