July Shareholders Net Worth Rises By 7.84%

Shareholders net worth on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) appreciated by 7.84 per cent in July compared with a loss of 2.12 per cent recorded in June.

Available data from the NSE in the period under review showed that the All-Share Index (ASI) closed higher at 23,292.80 points compared with the 21,599.57 points recorded at the end of June.

The market capitalisation also rose by N52 billion to close at N7.41 trillion as against a drop of N15 billion to close at N6.89 trillion in June.

The index measures the growth and decline of the entire Nigerian bourse while market capitalisation captures the daily worth of all the securities at the exchange.

Investors in the period traded 5.44 billion shares worth N41.89 billion in 80,029 deals as against 5.26 billion shares valued at N39.60 billion traded in 105,558 deals in the comparative period of 2011.

NAN quotes some stakeholders as saying that investors’ recorded capital gains followed government’s plan to intervene in the market.

Alhaji Rasheed Yussuf, former President of Association of Stockbroking Houses of Nigeria, said the growth stemmed from the impressive results released by some quoted companies.

“If you look at the index for the first six months of the year, the market improved by about 11 per cent, and the improvement was recorded mostly in July,” Yussuf said.

He said that investors’ expectations of full and interim dividends also impacted positively on the overall market-based confidence.

Yussuf urged the regulators and government to remain optimistic in their capital market projections for the sustenance of the growth.