Investors Withdraw N339.06bn From Stock Market In Q1, 2021
Foreign and domestic investors pulled out a total of N339.06bn from the Nigerian stock market in the first three months of this year, the latest data from the Nigerian Exchange Limited have shown.
The data also showed that foreign portfolio investors sold Nigerian stocks worth N90.12bn in the first quarter while domestic investors withdrew N248.94bn from the market.
The foreign investors withdrew N30.79bn in January; N39.05bn in February, and N20.28bn in March, while the domestic investors pulled out N86.35bn in January; N69.28bn in February, and N93.31bn in March.
The total transactions at the nation’s bourse increased by 5.99 per cent from N215.58bn (about $525.21m) in February 2021 to N228.49bn (about $560.55m) in March.
The NGX said when compared to the performance in March 2020 (N242.91bn), total transactions decreased by 5.94 per cent in March 2021.
The total value of transactions executed by domestic investors in March outperformed transactions executed by foreign investors by about 64 per cent.
A further analysis of the total transactions executed revealed that total domestic transactions increased by 22.37 per cent from N153.51bn in February to N187.85bn in March 2021.
Total foreign transactions, however, decreased by 34.53 per cent from N62.07bn in February (about $151.23m) to N40.64bn (about $99.70m) in March.
The NGX said, “Retail investors outperformed institutional investors by 16 per cent. A comparison of domestic transactions in the current and prior month (February 2021) revealed that retail transactions increased by 101.77 per cent from N53.80bn in February 2021 to N108.55bn in March 2021.
“However, the institutional composition of the domestic market decreased by 20.47 per cent from N99.71bn in February 2021 to N79.30bn in March 2021.”
The bourse said total domestic transactions accounted for about 74 per cent of the total transactions carried out in 2020, while foreign transactions accounted for about 26 per cent of the total transactions in the same period.
The transaction data for 2021 showed that total foreign transactions were about N150.23bn, while total domestic transactions were about N526.30bn.
The then Chief Executive Officer, NSE, Mr Oscar Onyema, at the 2020 Market Recap and 2021 Outlook in January, noted that for the second consecutive year, equity market transactions were dominated by domestic investors who accounted for 65.28 per cent of market turnover by value while foreign portfolio investors accounted for 34.72 per cent.
On the outlook for this year, he had said, “We expect the marginal reopening of businesses, normalisation of the economy and revenue-diversification drive of the Nigerian government to elicit positive sentiments throughout the year.
“Our growth expectations should be noted with caution, as the recent second wave of COVID-19 in Nigeria and globally may slow down renewed social and economic activities.”
