The Nigerian stock market has recovered COVID-19 losses, making back all the money lost during the pandemic.

The Nigerian All Share Index, which measures performance of the stock market in general terms, fell to as low as 21,300 points in March, the lowest since June 2012. It was 28,843 and 26,216 in January and February 2020 respectively. The drop was due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which triggered a significant outflow of capital from Nigeria.

Investors dumped the stock market during March and April as uncertainty and fear of the pandemic triggered a lock down of the global economy. Market turmoil was also compounded by the crash in oil prices, triggering a significant outflow of capital in equities.

Data from the Bureau of Statistics, reveals only $52.3 million on capital flowed into equities in the second quarter of the year, compared to $639.7 million in the first quarter and $496.8 million in the corresponding quarter in the prior year.

The ensuing devaluation at the end of March 2020 spooked foreign investors; who also feared more devaluation was on its way, thus sealing any immediate hope of a return to the stock market in the second quarter of 2020.

However, since July, the stock market has inched higher in positive territory, ending the third quarter with consecutive gains in July, August, and September respectively. This was the first time since 2017 (second quarter) that Nigerian stocks will post gains in three consecutive months.