Equities Investors Lose N91bn In September

Investors in Nigeria’s equities market saw the value of their investments decline by N91 billion in September as the market dropped by 0.25 per cent following sessions of profit-taking after August rally.

In nine months to September, the market’s positive return stood lower at +29.52 per cent.

The market which had started September with All-Share Index (ASI) and equities market capitalisation at 66,548.99 points and N36.422trillion respectively dropped to 66,382.14 points and N36.331trillion as at Friday September 29, the last trading day of the month.

This negative close in September came despite expectations of investors positioning in value stocks ahead of qualification for their half year (H1) interim dividend.

Rather, in the review trading month, more investors were mostly cautious of the nation’s macro-economic outlook particularly happenings at the foreign exchange (FX) market which directly affect foreign investments in stocks.

“With bearish sessions dominating this month, the market lost 0.25 per cent, compared to the 3.44 per cent return in August.

“With no positive driver in the market, we anticipate similar mixed trading sessions next week, as investors begin to look forward to third quarter (Q3) earnings report,” according to Lagos-based analysts at Vetiva Research.

Meanwhile, the value of investments in the Nigerian capital market depreciated dipped by 0.10 per cent on the last trading day of the month, yesterday.

This represented a drop in the market capitalisation by N36.38 billion from N36.47 trillion to N36.33 trillion at the close of trading today.

Also, the All-Share Index fell by 66.49 basis points to close at 66,382.14, down from 66,448.63 ASI achieved by the bourse on Thursday.

Investors traded 292.94 billion shares valued at N4.53 billion in 6,323 deals on Friday.

This surpassed the 273.79 million shares worth N3.41 traded by shareholders in 6,826 deals the previous day.