The Nigerian Stock Exchange will from today commence the segmentation of the capital market.According to the NSE, it will from Tuesday, November 1, 2011, reflect key changes to the markets, boards and industry sectors in its daily market reports.The Exchange said it would also unveil new parameters for segmenting equities by market capitalisation and into growth or income stocks.The Head of Strategy, NSE, Yvonne Emordi, in a statement said, This is a strategic step to align our market with Nigerias economic sectors and with other industry classification standards, such as GICS, SIC and NAICS, which global portfolio managers are familiar with. We are now better positioned to drive proper allocation of assets to Nigeria.The statement noted that highlights of the exercise included a move from three to two markets and rebranded boards in both markets; the pruning of the previous 33 sectors down to 12 sectors, and reclassification of all listed companies within the new sectors; as well as a standard for defining large, mid or small cap stocks, and growth or income stocks.According to the statement, the new market segmentation configuration is also designed to create simplicity for investors, adding that it informed the construction of individual investment portfolios, in terms of asset allocation, providing investors the basic tools for understanding risk diversification.Speaking on the development, the Chief Executive Officer, NSE, Mr. Oscar Onyema, said, This is one of the nine projects we are launching this year to substantiate our undertaking to become The Gateway to African Markets.Meanwhile, the market capitalisation of listed equities on the Exchange appreciated by N10bn or 0.15 per cent, up from N6.617tn recorded the previous day to close N6.627tn on Monday.The NSE All Share Index also increased, moving up by 31.8 basis points to close at 20,934.96 after opening at 20,903.16 points.The banking sub-sector led on the activity chart, recording high volume. Investors in the banking sub-sector exchanged 212.802million shares valued at N1.887bn in 1,999 transactions.Activities in the banking sub-sector were boosted by trading in the shares of Zenith Bank Plc, United Bank for Africa Plc, First Bank of Nigeria Plc and Guaranty Trust Bank Plc.A total of 17 stocks recorded price appreciation, in contrast to 23 that recorded losses.Ashaka Cement Plc led the price gainers, rising by 4.97 per cent or 0.73 to close at N15.43 per share.
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