Equities investors in the Nigerian capital market have every reason to cheer as the value of their investments, measured by the Nigerian Stock Exchange capitalisation, went up by N8 trillion in 2020.The market capitalisation rose from N12.969 trillion in 2019 to N21.057 trillion as at the close of market yesterday.
The gain came amid the COVID-19 pandemic and economic recession, which were expected to affect the performance of the market. Although the stock market was oversold with many prices trading record lows at the beginning of the year, the Central Bank of Nigeria ’s restriction of domestic investors from participating in its open market operations as well as the interest rate cut boosted the patronage of the market in 2020.
The Chief Executive Officer of NSE, Mr. Oscar Onyema, has attested to the role the CBN played in the rally witnessed in the stock market, saying that its policies made the stock market attractive to investors. With inflation rate at 14.89 per cent, yield or coupon or interest rate at the fixed-income market hover between less than one per cent and a little above one per cent for one-year instrument to some seven per cent annual coupon for two-decades-and-a half instrument, Nigerian equities’ return is the most attractive and the only positive-yielding return in 2020.
Commenting on the market performance in 2020, an excited President of the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers , Mr. Olatunde Amolegbe, described it as good news for investors and Nigeria.
A stock market in a failed economy closed bullishly?. What a shameful report. You people probably think that every nigerian is an idiot.