Nigerian investors lead global rally with N703b gain

• Published date: 16 January 2023
• Publication title: Nigeria - The Nation

Nigerian equities closed weekend atop the global returns table with net capital gain of N703 billion, as investors scrambled to take positions in value stocks ahead of the release of the earnings reports for the 2022 business year.

Benchmark indices for the Nigerian stock market showed average return of 2.52 per cent for the week, equivalent to net capital gain of N703 billion. The rally nudged the average -year-to-date return for Nigerian equities so far in 2023 to 2.46 per cent.

Nigerian equities outperformed most global stock markets in a week that saw improved buy sentiments across the world. In United States, the benchmark Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) and S and P 500 rose by 1.7 per cent and 2.3 per cent respectively. United Kingdom's FTSE 100 Index appreciated by 1.2 per cent. Japan's Nikkei 225 recorded modest return of 0.6 per cent. France's CAC 40 Index rallied by 2.3 per cent.

Germany's XETRA DAX Index appreciated by 3.4 per cent. China's SSE gained 1.2 per cent. STOXX Europe- which tracks the broad European markets rose by 1.3 per cent. The MSCI EM- which tracks emerging markets, posted average return of 3.0 per cent while the twin MSCI FM, which tracks the frontier markets, rallied by 2.1 per cent.

The All Share Index (ASI)- the value-based common index that tracks all share prices at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX), crossed the 52,000 points to close weekend at 52,512.48 points as against its week's opening index of 51,222.34 points.

Aggregate market value of all quoted equities at the NGX rose correspondingly from its week's opening value of N27.899 trillion to close weekend at N28.602 trillion, representing an increase of N703 billion or 2.52 per cent. The perfect concurrence between the ASI and aggregate market value underlined that the increase in market value was entirely driven by share price appreciation, rather than primary market activities such as increase in volume of shares or primary revaluation of shares.

There were nearly two advancers for every decliner during the week, underlining the bullish sentiment driving trading at the stock market. A total of 51 equities recorded price appreciation last week as against 38 gainers in the previous week while there were 27 losers last week compared with 17 losers in the previous week.

With many recent monetary policies appeared to favour banks, investors' appetite for banking stocks has risen considerably in recent period. All banks also operate the Gregorian calendar as their business year...