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The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) recorded an 11 per cent increase on the average daily turnover as against N3.52 billion in 2019 to N3.93 billion in 2020.
Significant growth has also been recorded in the Premium Board category with a 28.6 per cent increase in volume traded up from 50.04 million in 2019 to 64.39 million in 2020.
The Exchange had opened on a strong note in 2020, becoming the best performing equities in the world by mid-January with gains of 10.4 per cent year-to-date (YTD) and recording one of its best January returns at 7.5 per cent. However, the momentum slowed as the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the world between February and March, leading to unprecedented panic in global financial markets due to economic uncertainty.
Despite the volatility in the market, NSE has displayed remarkable resilience amid the pandemic, with increased investors’ confidence as reflected in the performance of the various asset classes NSE provides. On the equities side, the All Share Index is outperforming comparable African Exchanges and stands at -7.16 per cent YTD as at 18 June 2020, while capitalization in the fixed income market has risen by 13.5 per cent to N14.66 trillion from N12.92 trillion as at the end of 2019 as a result of increased listing activity from the Federal Government and Nigerian corporates.
Some notable listings in the private sector include the Dangote N100 billion bond; FBNQuest Merchant N5 billion bond; the Primero BRT Securitisation SPV Plc’s N16.5 billion bond; the Flour Mills of Nigeria’s N7.5 billion and N12.5 billion bonds; Golden Guinea Breweries Plc’s Private Placement amounting to N1.2 billion. On the government side, the FGN Savings Bonds valued at N206.307 million, 5.131 per cent and N78.672 million of 4.131 per cent on April 3, 2020, were listed, as well as the Federal Government Bonds of N55 billion, N65 billion and N40 billion.
NSE continues to reap the benefits of its investments in business innovation and digitisation made over the years. Since the activation of its Business Continuity Plan last March, NSE has sustained remote working and trading with no downtimes. Dealing Member Firms have been equipped to trade leveraging FIX Protocol and Virtual Private Networks provided by the Exchange.
