Investors lose N313bn as market cap drops
The Nigerian Exchange Limited's market capitalization has dropped to N29.915 trillion, less than a month after reaching N30 trillion.
The market cap fell by 1.04 percent, the same percentage as the All Share Index, which fell 574.59 basis points to close at 54.915.61.
In terms of exchanges, a total of 137,286,570 shares worth N1.509 billion were traded in 3,489 transactions on the exchange.
Since Monday, the equities market has been in a bearish trend, with investors continuing to lose money. However, the recorded loss of N313 billion was the week's largest.
Tunde Amolegbe, Chief Executive Officer of Arthur Stevens Assets Management, responded to the market trend by citing several factors, including election season jitters and the recently released inflation rate of 21.91 percent for February 2023.
"Profit-taking continues on the back of the strong gains we've seen since the start of the year," he said. Investors appear to be rethinking their positions in light of recent inflation data."
The MPC is expected to tighten monetary policy further at its next meeting as a result of this.
"Typical anxiety that typically surrounds election periods in Nigeria could also be a factor. We cannot rule out the possibility of the Central Bank of Nigeria's demonetisation policy having a negative impact on corporate earnings in the first quarter of the year. These findings will be available to the market starting next month.
"Though FPI (Foreign Portfolio Investment) participation in our market has been muted recently, we cannot rule out the chilling effect that recent events in the International banking sector could have on those who remain; I am referring to the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and the likes."
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