Trading Value still on decline on the floor of NSE market

 A breakdown of trading data for the month of January 2016, obtained by THISDAY show  that  the second week of accounted for the highest value of transaction. Investors staked N14.165 billion on 2.177 billion shares in 21,471 deals. The third week followed with N10.753 billion invested in 2.177 billion shares in 21,471 deals, while the fourth week recorded N9.463 billion staked on 1.133 billion shares in 16,680 deals. The first week accounted for the lowest transaction with investors investing N7.669 billion in 899 million shares in 14,164 deals.

  Market analysts said the value of the trading in the first month of the year reflected the  economic  headwinds, which have affected the market performance. The Nigerian equities market  is currently suffering from the impact of adverse macro-economic situation largely due to a drastic drop in the price of oil, negative public sentiment which is related to the state of the macro-economy and exit  of foreign portfolio investors in reaction to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on  policy on foreign exchange.

According to the NSE boss, the negative performance of the stock market is a reflection of the  domestic  economy and to some extent, international economic  performance. He said assured investors not to panic, saying once there is recovery in economy, the stock market will equally bounce back.

“It would have been more worrisome if the economy is going down and the stock market is going up. But what is currently happening is a reflection of the heath of the nation’s economy,” he said.

Looking ahead, Mr Onyema said while the anticipate 2016 to be a challenging year for the market and the domestic economy, “We intend to continue our collaborative efforts with the new administration and other private sector players to create a framework for financing the Nation’s infrastructure and capital requirements. Additionally, we plan to work with the FGN to ensure that the appropriate messaging is conveyed to the investor community.”

The NSE boss said the exchange will in 2016 will focus on executing its strategy in order to continue to provide a credible platform for financing the economy.“To this end, we intend to intensify engagement efforts with the Federal Government of Nigeria. We have also prioritized three initiatives(demutualize the NSE, monetize market services suite, establish derivatives initiatives for 2016 aimed at achieving the Exchange’s three  strategic objectives of increasing the number of new listings across five  asset classes; increasing order flow in the five asset classes; and operating a fair and orderly market based on just and equitable principles,” Onyema said.