Equities investors lose N20bn amidst positive sentiments

COMING on the heels of the news that the country is out of recession, the bearish outlook of the equities market softened in September on gloomy investors’ sentiments.

However, market capitalisation lost about N20 billion in the month under review, just as the NSE All Share Index (ASI) dropped 0.18 per cent compared to a loss of 0.96 per cent in August while the year to date performance closed at 31.87 per cent from 32.11 per cent in August.

Market activity by volume also closed downbeat by 43.63 per cent, while value of trades dropped 67.17 per cent in a lower deals relative to previous month’s levels.

After five consecutive quarters of contraction in the Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the Nigerian economy exited the first recession in over two decades. The Q2, 2017 figures that the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released on September 5, 2017 showed that the GDP recorded a growth rate of 0.55 per cent.

However, cautious trading still persisted in the equities market as the government admitted that the country’s economic growth remained fragile and vulnerable, despite the cheering news.

It is however expected that ASI outing in October would be quite bullish compared to last month bumpy outlook as investors anticipate Q3 result. Analysts at APT Securities expected some actions by the Federal Government in governance and fiscal front lines to impact the equities market.

Last week’s results were mixed as the bourse made gains on intermittently, despite which the ASI marginally lost 0.1 per cent W-o-W to close at 35,439.38 points while YTD return moderated to 31.9 per cent.

The drag in performance was largely on account of declines in Consumer Goods. However, activity level was mixed as average volume rose 20.9 per cent to 265.2 million units while value traded fell 21.1 per cent to N2.8 billion.