Equity price free fall to continue until Sept — Expert

Some capital market operators on Monday said that the free fall of equities in the nation’s bourse would persist because of the absence of a visible government’s policy direction andeconomic uncertainties.

They told the News men  separate interviews in Lagos that the market was contending with many unsettled factors.

Alhaji Rasheed Yusuuf, the immediate President, the Association of Stockbroking Houses of Nigeria (ASHON), attributed the persistent downward trend to the Federal Government delayed economic blue print and appointment of ministers.

Yusuuf said that investors would continue with their ‘wait and see’ attitude until September when government would announce its ministers as promised by President Muhammadu Buhari.

“We still don’t know the policy government want to pursue and this is affecting the market because market is a reflection of the economy,”he said.

He said that “the trend will continue till September when government lays out its economic policy”.

Yussuf said that the e-dividend payment platform unveiled by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on July 29 alone would not turnaround the market unless there were positive economic policies from the government.

He also stated that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) tight economic policy in defending the nation’s currency was affecting the market.

Mallam Garba Kurfi, the Managing Director, APT Securities and Funds Ltd., said that policy direction was very important in kick-starting the market.

Kurfi said that call for further devaluation of the naira to its appropriate position and non-collection of dollar deposit by banks was affecting the market.

He added that release of banks debtors would also affect the market this week because “investors will wait to ascertain to know who and who is affected to know where to put their investment”.