Nigerian stocks down

Nigerian stocks shed 2.4 percent on Tuesday to hit a new one-month low below 42,000 points as investors sold off shares in the consumer goods sector. The stock market, affected by a global risk-off sentiment, fell for the seventh straight session. Nigeria's benchmark index has slipped from its January highs but is still up 11.75 percent so far this year. Investors have been closing local positions on concern that rising global inflation would lead to higher interest rates in developed economies and draw capital away from emerging markets.
The index of Nigeria's top 10 consumer goods firms declined 2.83 percent to lead the main index lower. Pharmaceutical firm Fidson and Dangote Cement , which accounts for around a third of market capitalisation, fell 4.89 percent each.