Despite the economic challenges faced by the country in 2022, the stock market arm of the Nigerian Exchange Group remained resilient as it gained N5.62 trillion in the past year.
The stock market in 2022 came under heavy foreign investors’ exit due to scarcity of foreign exchange, giving way for retail/institutional investors to dominate trading in fundamental and dividend-paying stocks on the bourse. According to the Vice president, Highcap Securities Limited, Mr, David Adonri , “the stock market appreciated at the beginning of the H1 2022 due to the impressive 2021 full year and Q1 2022 results released by listed companies.
The stock market between June and August 2022 was also affected by a hike in the inflation rate , and the CBN’s increase in its MPR to 14 per cent, which eventually closed the year 2022 at 16.5per cent. Despite the paltry returns of the Banking Sector Index, Wema Bank, specifically led the chart as the best-performing stock in 2022, posting a return of 442 per cent to N3.9 per share, from N0.72 per share.