The Nigerian stock market depreciated by 0.42 per cent resulting in N247bn loss by the end of the week amidst a rebound in the naira.
The NGX All-Share Index and Market Capitalization fell to close the week ending March 22, 2024, at 104,647.37 points and N59.169tn respectively.
During the preceding week, which ended March 15, 2024, the market capitalisation closed N59.416tn while the NGX All-Share Index finished at 105,085.25 points.
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Checks by THE WHISTLER show that the NGX 30 Index lost -0.52 per cent of its price; the NGX Premium Index fell by -2.02 per cent; NGX AFR Div Yield Index fell by -1.77 per cent; the NGX MERI Value Index fell -0.78 per cent; the NGX Consumer Goods Index finished lower -0.37 per cent.
The NGX Lotus II, NGX Growth Index, and NGX Pension Board Index plunged by -0.27 per cent, -0.26 per cent and -0.54 per cent respectively.
But the NGX Main Board, NGX CG, NGX Banking, NGX Pension, NGX Insurance, NGX ASeM, NGX AFR Bank Value, NGX MERI Growth, NGX Oil and Gas and NGX Industrial Goods which appreciated by 0.68 per cent, 0.43 per cent, 4.19 per cent, 0.13 per cent, 8.92 per cent, 21.81 per cent, 3.93 per cent, 4.13 per cent per cent, 0.30 per cent, and 0.57 per cent respectively.
However, the NGX Sovereign Bond index which tracks the performance of local currency denominated sovereign debt publicly issued by the government closed flat with shares trading at N730.8.
Meanwhile, the naira made an expected rebound to N1,431.49 per dollar after the Central Bank of Nigeria announced that it had cleared the legitimate backlogs out of the $7bn it inherited.
At the Bureau de Change segment of the market, the naira rose to N1,480 per dollar from N1,610 it traded at the beginning of the week.
In February, the currency traded N1,915 and was heading to N2,000 per dollar before the CBN began the hunt for street forex traders and speculators.
The CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso has repeatedly blamed BDC operators and speculators for the misfortune of the naira leading to the withdrawal of 4,173 BDC licences in February.