Foreign Portfolio Investment (FPI) outflows from the country’s stock market rose by 124.7% percent in May 2018, with the market capitalisation of listed equities losing N1.146 trillion as it fell to N13.802 trillion.
In the Domestic & Foreign Portfolio Participation in Equity Trading for the Month of May released by the Nigerian Stock Exchange, recently, it noted that there was a 3.45 per cent decrease in foreign inflows to N62.06 billion in May from N64.28 billion in April. While the foreign outflows increased from N58.25 billion in April to N130.89 billion in May 2018.
The FPI outflow includes sales transactions or liquidation of portfolio investments through the stock market, while the FPI inflow includes purchase transactions on the NSE (equities only), according to the report.
The surge in foreign outflow can be largely attributed to uncertain political climate as the country’s general election draw closer.
However, the total transactions at the equities market increased by 49.96 percent from N212.23 billion recorded in April to N318.27 billion in May.
The five-month report also showed that the cumulative transactions from January to May increased by 97.13 per cent to N1.409 trillion in 2018 compared with N714.99 billion recorded in the same period of 2017.
