Investors’ sell pressure occasioned by national security challenges, decline in international oil prices and political uncertainty impacted negatively on foreign portfolio interest at the Nigeria bourse in September.
The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) said that in the month under review, total foreign capital outflow from the bourse amounted to N92.54 billion.
The capital outflow according to statistics released by the NSE represented an increase of 63.67 per cent when compared with N56.56 billion recorded in August.
The growth in sell pressure followed what stakeholders termed foreign portfolio managers anxiety about the Nigerian polity.
A further breakdown of the report showed that total foreign inflow during the period under review stood at N134.14 billion compared with N53.86 billion achieved in the preceding month.
It also showed that total securities transactions rose by 285.56 per cent to N522.74 billion compared with N135.58 billion posted in August.
The exchange said that foreign portfolio investors’ inflow accounted for 25.66 per cent of total transactions, while the outflow accounted for 17.70 per cent of the total transactions.
The total foreign transactions during the review period, according to the NSE, stood at N226.68 billion in contrast with N110.40 billion in August.
On the other hand, total domestic transactions stood at N296.06 billion against N25.18 billion in August, an increase of 1,075 per cent.
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Foreign investors’ participation dropped by 13.28 per cent to 43.36 per cent against 49.28 per cent in the previous period.
Malam Garba Kurfi, the Managing Director, APT Securities and Funds Ltd., attributed the development to fall in crude oil prices at the global market and uncertainties surrounding the 2015 general elections.
Kurfi said the foreign exchange policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) contributed to the massive exit of foreign investors in the market.
(NAN)
