Nigerian stocks declined on Tuesday April 7, ending the longest rally in two and a half years after the anxiety and subsequent elation that surrounded the presidential and National Assembly elections eroded.
The Nigerian Stock Exchange, All Share Index (ASI) slid 2.2 percent to close at 34,941.79 points, the most since March 16.
Also, ten consecutive days of gains had pushed the gauge above the threshold that signals to some investors that assets were overbought.
The NSE ASI last week rallied at 15 per cent and market capitalisation adding a record N1.8 trillion in the four days after the March 28-29 vote to wipe losses for 2015.
A money manager at Stanlib Asset Management Limited, Thabo Ncalo, which oversees about $45 billion, speaking on the development, said: “Some of the headwinds in the economy are still there.”
“Now that we’ve had the good news, everyone is sitting down and looking at valuations.”
According to black market dealers, while stocks declined, the naira firmed more than six per cent at the parallel market on Tuesday, April 7 as individuals who had stockpiled dollars to hedge against political risk because of the general election sold off their holdings
Thus, for the first time in several years, the naira exchanged at the same rate at both the parallel and interbank markets on the back of the continuing strong liquidity policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria.
