Nigeria’s benchmark stock index has wiped out almost all of its 2019 losses, thanks to the recent arrival of a new giant listing.
The main Lagos gauge was languishing 10 percent lower for the year on the eve of MTN Nigeria Communications Plc’s market debut on May 16. But a flood of investors seeking shares in the mobile carrier sent its stock surging by the daily limit of 10 percent for five days in a row, reducing the overall market’s decline since the start of January to just 1 percent as of Thursday.
MTN Nigeria was 3.5 percent higher in Lagos Thursday as the split between buyers and sellers achieved some balance for the first time after almost 70% of gains from the listing price. The unit of Johannesburg-based MTN Group Ltd. has a market valuation of about US$8.5 billion, the largest in Lagos after Dangote Cement Plc.
Source: Bloomberg