Stock market investments have depreciated by N209 billion in the three trading days of this week following renewed adverse sentiments on the heels of weak earnings results of some companies. In another development in the stock market, the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, holding company, HOLDCO, structure has formally commenced as both the Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC and the Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC, gave final approval yesterday.
Specifically, the equity market capitalization which represents investors’ worth on the Exchange, Wednesday declined to N20.369 trillion from N20.578 trillion it opened on Monday. The All Share Index, ASI, declined by 400.36 points or 1.02 per cent to close Wednesday at 38931.25 points from 39331.61 points on Friday. Investment analysts attributed the bearish trend to what they term, “market correction” following the sharp rally recorded in 2020. But they also said poor earnings results announced by some companies for the full year 2020 may have created a negative sentiment. Analysts at Invest Data Limited said: “Technically, the ongoing negative move has been described as market correction, even as the consistent downtrend could be linked to the sharp rally recorded in 2020 and in January 2021, ahead of the full year earnings season and first quarter 2021 numbers. “We advise investors to play defensive and dividend stocks to reduced investment risk around the market.”
