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Nigerian Securities Rally For Nine Days On Historic Presidential Election

Nigerian Securities Rally For Nine Days On Historic Presidential Election

Nigerian stocks rallied for ninth straight day on Wednesday according to Bloomberg data as it emerged that opposition candidate Muhammadu Buhari had won the presidential election against the incumbent Goodluck Jonathan.

Luck seems to have run out for Jonathan. He who ascended to power in 2010 as acting President after the then Nigerian President Yar’Adua went for medical treatment in Saudi Arabia and later died.

Jonathan beat Buhari in a 2011 election that saw over 800 people killed in post election violence.

Early on Wednesday, a day after Buhari was declared the winner, the main stock index at the Nigerian bourse jumped 6.7 percent to cross the psychological 33,000 resistance level, its single biggest daily gain this year according to Reuters.

The county’s dollar-denominated bonds also rallied as former military ruler Buhari claimed victory in the presidential race and Jonathan called him personally to concede defeat.

“(Buhari’s win) will bring forth positive sentiment. A lot of people believe he is going to fight corruption, eliminate wastages and strengthen the economy. These are factors that boost investor confidence and very important for building the market,” Kunle Ezun, an analyst at Ecobank Transnational in Lagos, told Bloomberg on Monday before the election results were announced.

Analyst say the Nigerian election, which was postponed for six weeks from its initial date of Feb. 14 to March 28,  was a vital test on the stability of the Africa’s largest oil producing country.

The all-share index rose 2.1 percent, climbing for the eighth straight day, to 31,753.15 by close of trading on Tuesday, while the nation’s Eurobond yields fell for the ninth consecutive day to 6.31 percent  – a three month low.

Nigerian securities had fallen in the run up to the election and were considered one of the cheapest in Africa. The recent rally is now one of the best in the world over the last five days.

“The fact that the voting is behind us now in itself is positive,” Yvonne Mhango, a Johannesburg-based economist at Renaissance Capital, told Bloomberg.

“It means sooner rather than later we’re going to see a resumption of business activity.”