The Nigerian Stock Exchange All Share Index and market capitalisation declined by 4.28% to close the week at 26,216.46 and N13.658 trillion respectively4. This rise was primarily driven by the Financial Services industry, particularly Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, United Bank for Africa Plc, and Zenith Bank Plc, which comprised 82% of the total trade volume valued at N17.2 billion. Despite this, the top six price gainers were mostly non-financial services firms including May & Baker Nigeria, Ekocorp, Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals, BUA Cement, and Ardova Plc. As the equities prices continue to drop, the dividend yields will remain attractive not only to local investors but also to global portfolio managers which will drive improvements in market activities.
March 23, 2020
Nigeria Economic Update (Issue 9)
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Nigeria Economic Update (Issue 24)
The external reserves decreased week-on-week marginally by 0.2 percent from June 9, 2017 to June 16, 2017. The reserve declined from $30.27 billion to $30.21 billion. Given that crude oil revenue constitutes the most part of the reserve, the decline may be reflective of the week-on-week drop in global crude oil price (Crude oil price fell by approximately 2 percent to $47.377 per barrel as at June 16 2017). The ongoing forex intervention by the monetary authority also poses a challenge to foreign reserve conservation. Given the unimpressive performance of global oil prices in recent time, there is need to explore other areas with great potentials to generate foreign exchange earnings. Diversification of forex earnings remains the key to insulating foreign reserve against fluctuations in global commodity prices. The country can tap into solid minerals sector as alternative source of foreign exchange. Huge investment together with investor-friendly policies in solid minerals would make the sector attractive to investors.