The market capitalisation of listed equities of the Nigerian Stock Exchange plummeted by N37bn, following a record of losses in three consecutive days.After the Eid-il-kabir holidays, activities started on Wednesday with a market capitalisation of N6.516tn. By the close of the days trading, it began a free fall, depreciating by N13bn on Wednesday and Thursday, and N11bn on Friday, to close at N6.479tn.The NSE All Share Index also declined by 116.31 basis points, representing 0.57 per cent decline. The market opened last week with All Share index of 20,532.41 points, but dropped to 20,416.10 at the close of business on Friday.The development had become a matter of concerns to analysts and stakeholders. While some expressed doubts that the market might not recover from the continued crash in a short period, others argued that the fall in equities was global.The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Atlass Portfolios Limited, Mr. Ubale Yahaya, said, "Investors, whether local or foreign, are watching market activities and most of them are no longer interested in investing in the market."I dont see the market picking up this year. In fact, what we should look forward to now is for activities to gather momentum next year, when investors, among other things, would have been able to adjust to the high MPR by the CBN."The Monetary Policy Committee of the apex bank, in an emergency meeting on October 10, had raised Nigerias benchmark interest rate by 275 basis points to 12 per cent, from 9.25 per cent, making it the sixth time to have increased MPR since the beginning of the year.A Research Analyst with BGL Group, Mr. Femi Ademola, stressed that the banking crisis affected the market, noting that market recovery might not be imminent."People are afraid to invest now, and it is not their faults. The MPR hike by the CBN did a lot of damage, but I believe that in a couple of months, the market will find its rhythm and activities will become attractive," he said.Another analyst with ICMG Securities, Mr. Vincent Adubor, told our correspondent that discerning investors were taking advantage of the low-priced stocks by investing in the market.He noted that those leaving the market were speculators, stressing that with time true investors would start receiving returns on investments.He said, "The fall in capitalisation of the NSE is not peculiar. Other stocks globally are feeling the heat also. The good news is that the market now has people you can call investors, while those who left are only speculators."It may not be rosy at the moment, but we believe that activities will bounce back and current investors will rejoice in the end."
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