#EndSARS: Nigeria stock market plunge by 0.75 percent due to curfew

The Nigerian stock market plunged by 0.75 percent on October 21 due to the curfew announced by the Lagos State as a result of the protest by Nigerian youths against police brutality, tagged #EndSARS, according to a news report by Today.

Market analysts have expressed skepticism about bullish performance in subsequent trading sessions this week; even as investors position ahead of the third quarter, 2020 (Q3'20) earnings releases.

The analysts noted that foreign investors are always wary of insecurity in any economy and would begin to halt investments.

Analysts at InvestData Limited said, "We expect this volatility to continue, even as high Dividend Yields attract inflow to equity assets, ahead of the peak period of the Q3 earnings reporting season and momentum associated with earnings season in the midst of crude oil price oscillation."

Meanwhile, investors on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, lost N113.1 billion as market capitalization, which represents the total value of stocks traded on the Exchange fell to N14.9 trillion while Year to Date, YTD return weakened to 6.0 percent.

Sell pressures dominated today's trading session as investors booked gains from MTN Nigeria which dropped -1.4 percent followed by Guinness Nigeria -5.9 percent and ARDOVA -6.3 percent.

As a result, the NSE All-Share Index, ASI declined 75 base points, bps, or 0.7 percent to 28,449.49 points.