Investors Stake N166bn on 22.1bn Shares in Two Months

 NSE DG, Oscar Onyema

Goddy Egene

Investors have staked N166.171 billion on 22.119 billion shares in 251,129 deals on the Nigerian bourse in the first two months of the year; statistics collated by THISDAY have shown.

After closing on bullish note last year, the market began 2013 on a positive note as investors’ high expectation for improved 2012 corporate actions from companies drove prices to new highs in January and part of February.

While the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All-Share Index grew by 17.8 per cent as the end of February, THISDAY analysis of the trading activities showed that investors committed N166.171 billion in 22.119 billion shares in the two months.

The highest amount was invested in February, which was N99.884 billion exchanged in 144,306 deals. The month of January accounted for N66.287 billion invested in 9.003 billion shares in 106,823 deals.

A further analysis of the trading activities indicated that the second week of February recorded the highest value of trading as investors staked N24.692 billion on 3.572 billion shares in 39,321 deals.

The third week of February followed, accounting for N23.177 billion invested in 4.249 billion shares in 39,391 deals, investors invested N22.815 billion in 2.482 deals.
Investors staked N22.2 billion on 2.813 billion shares in 33,123 deals in the first week of February, while the third week of January recorded N21.636 billion invested in 3.259 billion shares in 34,651 deals.

The last week of January accounted for N19.152 billion invested in 2.612 billion shares in 27,186 deals, just as second and first weeks recorded N16.99 billion and N8.509 billion invested in 2.16 billion shares and 973 million shares in 31,241 deals and 13,745 deals respectively.
The level of equities’ investments in the two months showed an average weekly of N20 billion market.

Operators said the positive trend would be maintained going forward given the growing interest of both domestic and foreign investors. In 2012, the market recorded N658.22 billion staked on 89.15 billion shares.

The Chief Executive Officer of the NSE, Mr. Oscar Onyema, had last January  expressed confidence that the market would performance better in 2013. According to him, while the market would continue to face challenges around liquidity and depth, he is optimistic that it would do well in the end.

He said: “The Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) efforts to achieve single-digit inflation and a lower monetary policy rate (MPR) should have a positive impact on the equities market. As investor confidence measures implemented by the NSE mature, we expect that a growth trend similar to that experienced in fourth quarter (Q4) 2012 will extend into 2013. On the fixed income side, we anticipate the relative attractiveness of FGN bonds will continue for local and global investors, as a result of record high yields.”