Nigerian Stocks Jump 15-Year High After Emefiele’s Suspension

Nigeria’s stock market soared to its highest level since July 2008 on Tuesday, the first trading day in Africa’s biggest economy, days after Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele was suspended by President Bola Tinubu,

The main index of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) rose 2.7 percent to above 57,437 points, taking the year-to-date gains of the market to 11.8 percent, almost double the six percent return on the MSCI index.

The NGX Banking Index on Tuesday, June 13, also soared 8.5 percent to 570.64, the biggest advance in more than eight years.

Tajudeen Ibrahim, head of research at Chapel Hill Denham who spoke to Bloomberg said it reflects optimism over the policy signals from the President. He said;

“An improvement in the economy will enhance the performance of companies operating in the market. The exchange rate convergence is expected to lead to improvement in liquidity in the foreign currency market and will increase trading activities for the banks.”