Nigerian equities lost a whooping N1.34 trillion in November as tough macroeconomic environment characterized by rising inflation, declining Gross Domestic Products (GDP) and improbable foreign exchange exacerbated major selloff of quoted shares.
The loss of N1.34 trillion in November compounded the losing streak, with investor losing N701 billion in October. The benchmark index at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) indicated average month-on-month decline of 13.49 per cent.
Aggregate market value of all quoted equities closed November yesterday at N8.689 trillion as against the month’s opening value of N10.028 trillion. The All Share Index (ASI), the value-based index that tracks prices at the Exchange, dropped from the month’s opening index of 29,177.72 points to close the month at 25,241.63 points.
Equities had lost N701 billion in October as share prices of quoted equities continued to fall in spite of the inflow of much expected third quarter earnings of companies. While many had hoped that the last quarter would see a stem of the negative tide that had ruled the market for the most part of this year, the fourth quarter has so far been dominated by negative sentiments.
Several quoted companies have continued to hit their lowest prices in the past one year while a large segment of stocks have stagnated at nominal value, underlining the widespread downtrend at the stock market.
Year-to-date analysis indicated that average investors might have lost 11.87 per cent of their investments in the first 11 months of this year, which aggregated to a total market loss of approximately N2.79 trillion. Aggregate market value of quoted companies opened 2016 at N11.478 trillion. The ASI opened the year at 34,657.15 points.
The performance so far is hitting hard investors, who had been at the top-end of the global decline last year. Nigerian equities had ranked among the worst-performing stocks globally in 2014 with average full-year decline of 16.14 per cent. Aggregate market value of all quoted equities closed 2014 at N11.477 trillion as against its opening value of N13.226 trillion for the year, indicating a loss of N1.75 trillion during the year.
Against the opening value for 2014, the current market value of all quoted equities represents a loss of N3.2 trillion over the 22-month period.
