Investors in Nigeria’s equities market gained about N321billion in the month of August.

This record gain in August came amid pockets of bargain hunting and profit taking as evidenced in negative close to trading (-0.27percent) seen on Tuesday August 31, the last trading day of the month in review.
Despite Tuesday’s negative close to trading in August, market watchers expect further mixed trading pattern in new month’s session as investors continue to cherry pick attractive names across sectors while taking profit in others.

The Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) All-Share Index (ASI) and Market Capitalisation which stood at 38,604.72 points and N20.113trillion respectively as at August 2 increased to 39,219.61 points and N20.434trillion.

Read also: Nigerian Banks are Africa’s cheapest stocks and here is why

Consumer goods stocks saw the highest level of profit taking activities in August, followed by Insurance stocks, oil & gas stocks, industrial stocks and banking stocks.

The market rose by 1.74percent in the August 2021, helping to reduce the record negative return seen this year to -2.61percent.

On a positive note, it is expected that the release of banks financials and possible dividend declaration will drive investors to take position in the early part of September, despite that movement in the fixed income (FI) market space will continue to influence equities market sentiment.

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Iheanyi Nwachukwu, is a creative content writer with almost two decades journalism experience writing on banking, finance, capital markets, and tax. The multiple awards winning journalist is Assistant Editor, BusinessDay. Iheanyi holds BSc Degree in Economics from Imo State University; Master of Science (MSc) Degree in Management from University of Lagos. Iheanyi has attended several work-related trainings including (i) Advanced Writing and Reporting Skills (Pan African University, Lagos); (ii) News Agency Journalism (Indian Institute of Mass Communication {IIMC}, New Delhi, India); and (iii) Capital Markets Development and Regulations (International Law Institute {ILI} of Georgetown University, Washington DC, USA). Other trainings Iheanyi attended include: Economic/Political Risk Analysis (By Thomson Reuters Foundation); International Financial Journalism (IFJ) (By PMA Media Training, UK); Effective Business Writing Skills (By Phillips Consulting); Reporting on Corporate Governance (By International Finance Corporation (IFC) & Thomson Reuters Foundation UK); etc. In addition, he has participated in high-level economy & markets events in Dubai, South Africa, Morocco, and other African countries like Zambia, Ghana and Gambia.

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