NSE Remains Worst Performer In Africa As Investors Apathy Persists

The performance of the
Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) remained the worst among leading African exchanges as investors delay their return to the Nigerian market.
The NSE All-share in dex (ASI) had recorded one of the worst performances in the world in 2014 by shedding 16.1 per cent compared to positive performance in 2013.
Market stakeholders had hoped that the opportunity presented by the highly discounted equities would attract investors to the market in 2015 and lead to positive growth.
However, the uncertainties over the general elections and continuous decline in price of oil globally has kept many investors away from the market.
Consequently, the market fell by 14.7 per cent in the month of 2015.
The Tide gathered that with a year-to-date decline of 15.2 per cent as at Monday, the NSE remained the worst performing among the African exchanges.
The second exchange that has recorded a negative performance in Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE)  recorded a YTD decline of 4.6 per cent as at Monday.
Other exchanges recorded positive performance led by Egypt with 10.7 per cent, while Mauritius and Kenya Exchange 4.4 per cent, 4.04 per cent and 3.7 per cent growth respectively.
Analysts said the negative performance may continue until after the elections, contending that the postponement of the elections was not a good development for the market.
For instance, analysts at WSTC Financial Services Limited said rescheduling of the elections was deferring both socio-political stability and reprieve for the financial markets.
However, the Managing Director of Crane Securities Limted, Mr. Mike Eze, said discerning investors should use the opportunity of the low prices of equities to increase their stakes in the equities market.
“Not undermining the implication of the current political tension on the market, investors should scan through the market and invest in some of the stocks with good fundamentals but have been highly discounted due to the long bear run”, Eze said.