The continuous exit of funds from the equities market to another investment instrument, especially the fixed income segment has become a source of worry to capital market stakeholders, as they urged the Federal Government to tackle growing security challenges in Nigeria.
The market capitalisation which stood at N21.515 trillion as at January 5, 2021, when the market reopened for transactions for the year, dropped to N19.725 trillion as at close of trading on yesterday, representing N1.8 trillion loss while the All-Share Index plunged by 3,300.32 points or 9.0 per cent from 41,147.39 to 37,847.07.
“Fund is leaving the market because of the current trend. A stock you bought through a rights issue at N42.00 is N23.00 today, so some people will want to have a fixed interest rate. For instance, if the interest rate is 10 per cent, you work on that and expect the 10 per cent gain, which is fixed than the capital market, which you are not sure about.
“Our economy has been volatile and investors are not ‘father Xmas’. Any unfavourable instrument will always witness the migration of investors. For instance, foreign investors are always looking for a good environment and instruments to invest in. Investors exchanged 218.271 million shares valued at N2.725 billion in 3524 deals against 209.212 million shares valued at N1.763 billion in 3390 deals.
Cornerstone Insurance depreciated by 7.27 per cent to close at N0.51 kobo. Learn Africa dipped by 6.48 per cent to close at N1.01 kobo. Ikeja Hotel fell by 6.19 per cent to N0.91 kobo.