Investors shift attention to equities, gain N67bn

Investors’ interest in the equity market spurred yesterday as the all-share index (ASI) surged by 50bps, closing at 25,783.02 points.

This comes after the monetary policy cut rate by 100bps to 11.5 percent and adjusted the asymmetric corridor to +100/-700 while leaving other policy variables unchanged.

Consequently, the year-to-date return jumped slightly to -3.9 percent, with investors gaining N67 billion as the market capitalization closed at N13.5 trillion.

In terms of market activity, the total volume traded appreciated by 58.1 percent to 414.2 billion units while the total value traded declined by 42.7 percent to N6.3 billion.

Activities on the bond market also mirrored expectations, with the September auction oversubscribed by 1.5x as bids worth N360.2 billion turned up compared to N145 billion on offer.

According to equity analysts, the market would see a continuous flow of funds into the equities markets, especially from local investors, buoyed by the recent decision of MPC alongside the expected sizable inflows into the financial system in fourth-quarter 2020, with the low yield environment in the fixed income market likely to persist.