Business News
What’s going to happen to Nigeria’s stock market in May?
It is no secret that April was particularly good for equity markets all around the world. The three major American indexes recorded their best
It is no secret that April was particularly good for equity markets all around the world. The three major American indexes recorded their best monthly gains since 1987, and the benchmark European index (Stoxx 600) posted its best monthly return since 2015.
Nigeria was not left out; the Nigerian stock market recorded a monthly performance not seen since August 2017 (best monthly performance in three years).
The composite NSE All Share Index for April gained 8.08 % to close at 23,021.01 points, from an opening level of 21,300.47 points in the beginning of April. Stock market capitalization for the period was up at N11.997 trillion on April 30, 2020, from an opening value of N11.101 trillion on April 1, 2020.
Bulls had a good run in Nigeria’s stock market, as N896 billion was added to investors’ coffers.
Despite this bullish charge, April still left some bitter tales. On the macro level, the United States’ jobless claims soared to historic levels, while oil price briefly turned negative for the first time in its history. In Nigeria, Covid-19 cases continued to rise; the NCDC (Nigeria Centre for Disease Control) announced 1,793 new cases last month.
(READ MORE: Bulls win Grand Slam in Nigeria’s stock market)
There’s a frayed phrase in equity markets: sell in May and go away. While this saying might be more applicable to the more developed markets, it has not really played out in Nigeria’s stock market.
“In the last ten years, May’s returns have been positive 60% of the time; only in 2018, did we record a negative performance that was significantly greater than 1,” as reported by Cardinalstone Research.
READ MORE: Capital flows to Nigeria down for the second consecutive quarter by 7.8% q/q
Victor Silas, an Investment Analyst, explained to Nairametrics why Nigeria’s stock market had a good run in April. He said:
“The stock market had a satisfactory performance against many odds last month. I will attribute this performance to two major factors.
“The first, limited forex supply, as FPIs scrambled for FX liquidity after exiting positions due to the economy outlook because of fall in oil price and revenues.
“As foreign portfolio investors could not find the dollars to exit, these funds definitely found their way, but to the market for tactical plays.
“Subsequently, system liquidity. As OMO (Open Market Operations) bills mature, locals, both retail and institutional investors, are faced with liquidity problems; so they are on the lookout for investment opportunities. Hence, the market dynamics presented an opportunity to buy stocks in the dip.”
Victor Silas also talked about foreign portfolio bias going forward in the Nigeria stock market.
“In my expectations, considering a possibility of increased FX supply to the market, I expect foreign portfolio investors to be on the sell side, with locals on the buy side.”
(READ MORE: Bulls on rampage, surge pushes market cap over N12 trillion)
Nigerian Stocks have posted gains already in the last seven days straight, as investors look on the brighter side of life. Despite, the gloom of Covid-19, there appears to be hope on the horizon with news of a possible antiviral drug. Nigeria has gotten a $3.4 billion loan from the IMF helping boost external reserves. Oil prices are also back up, perhaps signaling the start of another w-curved recovery.
Will the market sell in May? For now, it doesn’t appear so.
Corporate Press Releases
N1m up for grabs with Quickteller Business contest
To join in the contest, entrepreneurs are to post a 1-minute video of themselves explaining how N1 million will boost their businesses.
Interswitch has announced a virtual pitch tagged ‘Boost your business with Quickteller’ where one business owner has the opportunity to win N1 million cash. The promo is believed will help businesses signed onto the Quickteller Business platform boost their business further.
To contest for the prize money, business owners are simply required to complete their account activation on Quickteller Business and they stand a chance of winning.
To join in the contest, entrepreneurs are to post a 1-minute video of themselves explaining how N1 million will boost their businesses. The videos should be uploaded on Facebook, Instagram, Tiktok or YouTube with the hashtag #boostwithquickteller. To submit an entry, business owners are required to paste their post’s URL in the video URL section of the entry form on the Quickteller Business site, share the entry with friends and family and invite them to vote.
They must register and activate their businesses on the Quickteller Business platform using the referral code ‘Boost’. Any entry without a referral code will be rendered invalid.
Speaking about the promo, Cherry Eromosele, Group Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at Interswitch noted that the promo is important to Interswitch as it helps business owners – not only to boost their businesses – but to provide solutions that addresses some of the pain points of business owners. “At Interswitch, we are committed to growing the business community by providing simple and scalable payment solutions because it is critical to their growth and essentially to the national economy at large,” she added.
The Quickteller Business platform provides seamless payment solutions for businesses and their customers. The platform is an intuitive and robust one that enables businesses of all sizes, small, medium, large, to take their businesses online even if they did not have prior technology infrastructure or website.
The top 10 entries with the highest votes by 11:59pm on Friday, April 30, 2021 will qualify to participate in the grand finale.
Apart from the numerous benefits enjoyed on the Quickteller Business platform, such as generating invoices to track sales and payments, customized storefront to display products and brand image, backend access to manage inventory, dispute management options to settle chargebacks and refunds, the platform further exposes its users to a ready market of over five million potential customers from Nigeria, Gambia and Kenya.
On the Quickteller Business platform, business owners can get paid by anyone, from anywhere without hassles. From massive corporations to smaller tech-savvy businesses, Quickteller Business makes payment easy for entrepreneurs and their customers.
About Quickteller Business
Quickteller business provides various payment tools for freelancers and small businesses operating without a website to receive payments easily. The platform seamlessly integrates with your existing website or store to provide various payment options.
About Interswitch
Interswitch is a leading technology-driven company focused on the digitisation of payments in Nigeria and other countries in Africa. Interswitch’s vision is to make payments a seamless part of everyday life in Africa, and its mission is to create transaction solutions that enable individuals and communities to prosper across Africa.
We began in 2002 as a transaction switching and electronic payments processing business, building and managing payment infrastructure, delivering innovative payments solutions and driving transactions across Nigeria and other African markets. We provide secure solutions and services that facilitate convenience and real value for consumers, businesses, governments and other organizations, helping to reduce costs, improve operational efficiency and drive sustainable revenue growth.
Business
FG launches National Gender Steering Committee for Gender Policy in the agricultural sector
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