LAGOS, June 24, 2016 – Nigerian stocks ended a three-day rally on Friday, falling 1.4 percent as worries over Britain’s shock vote to exit the European Union spread across emerging markets.
The main stock index, which crossed 31,000 psychological level in its previous session, fell to 30,624 points as investors dumped shares in the relatively liquid banking sector.
Nigerian stocks had rallied 8.5 percent between Tuesday to Thursday this week, after the central bank on Monday ditched its 16-month old peg on the currency to allow for a freely traded interbank market in a bid to attract foreign investors.
Investors have welcomed the currency float but many are still steering clear until Africa’s biggest economy shows signs of recovering from damage inflicted by the exchange rate peg.
On Friday some investors were booking profits from recent gains following renewed risk aversion, traders said.
“(The) market is down this morning, negative sentiment from Brexit and some profit taking,” one trader said.
Quitting the EU could cost Britain access to the EU’s trade barrier-free single market and means it must seek new trade accords with countries around the world.
Top decliners on the Lagos bourse was FCMB group down 5.08 percent while Fidelity Bank and Zenith Bank each down more than 4 percent.
Reuters
