In the most recent week, investors lost N305 billion on the floor of the Nigeria Exchange Limited (NGX), as the stock market declined for the sixth week in a row.
The market capitalization, which measures the total market value of all equities traded on the Exchange by all firms, decreased by 1.08 percent on Thursday, April 20, to N27.963 trillion from the N28.268 trillion it began with on Monday, April 17.
The All-Share Index (ASI), which also experienced a decline, fell by 1.08 percent to finish the week at 51,355.74 basis points (bps).
The stock market continued to perform poorly despite investors’ increasing interest in buying mid- and large-cap equities and their desire to position themselves for the release of first-quarter financial results by more listed corporations.
To protect themselves against inflation and capitalize on lucrative fixed-income yields, several investors sought out safer investments in fixed-income assets, such as bonds.
Headline inflation, which increased to 22.04 percent in March from 21.91 percent in February, together with other monetary and fiscal difficulties, further stifled investors’ enthusiasm for stocks.
A study of the sector indices revealed that overall performance was on a mixed trend except for the insurance and consumer goods sectors, which increased by 1.14 percent and 0.17 percent, respectively, to close at 180.72bps and 699.91bps.
