Local investors outshine foreigners in N1trn half-year equities deals

In the half-year (H1) trading period to June 30, domestic investors in Nigeria’s equities market took the shine off their foreign counterparts, according to trading figures from market operators on their Domestic and Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI) flows polled by the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX).

In taking the lead, local investors on the Bourse accounted for equities deals worth N812.46billion, which represents 78.54percent of the cumulative six-month trade value at N1.034trillion.

Month-on-month (MoM) data show that domestic investors traded shares worth N184.94billion, which represents 79.56percent of the total value of stocks traded on the Nigerian Exchange Limited in that month.

In February it was N153.51billion or 71.21percent of the total trade value, March (N187.85billion or 82.21percent), April (N131.91billion or 82.48percent), May (N76.90billion or 79.12percent), and June (N77.35billion or 76.76percent).

The summary of transactions shows that out of N812.46billion worth of equities traded by domestic investors, domestic retail investors traded equities worth N335.29billion while domestic institutional investors accounted for N477.17billion.

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On the other hand, foreign investors traded only N221.96billion worth of equities, representing 21.46percent of the total value traded on the Bourse same period. The record foreign inflow was N105.24billion while foreign outflow was N116.72billion.

In January, foreigners traded Nigerian equities worth N47.52billion, which represents 20.44percent of the total value of stocks exchanged on the Nigerian Bourse in January.

In February, foreigners exchanged N62.07billion worth of equities or 28.79percent; March (N40.64billion or 17.79percent), April (N28.02billion or 17.52percent), May (N20.29billion or 20.88percent), and June (N23.42billion or 23.24percent).

Historical analysis of domestic and foreign transactions on the Exchange shows that over a fourteen (14) year period, domestic transactions decreased by 59.54percent, from N3.556trillion in 2007 to N1.439trillion in 2020 while foreign transactions increased by 18.45percent from N616billion in 2007 to N729billion in 2020.

Total domestic transactions accounted for about 74percent of the total transactions carried out in 2020, while foreign transactions accounted for about 26percent of the total transactions in the same period.