It’s the beginning of 2018 and we cannot start the year or talk about the Nigerian stock market without taking a look at the stocks that performed best in 2017 and how the stock market fared in general.

Last year was a very good year for the Nigerian stock market as it recorded a lot of successes and growth. The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE or the Exchange), was ranked the highest stock exchange website in Africa by Alexa rankings.

S&P Dow Jones Indices ranked the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) as one of the 5 best capital markets in the world for 2107. According to the rating body, NSE grew by 42 percent in 2017. This made NSE the third-best performing capital market after Argentina, Turkey, Hong Kong and the United States.

For the first time in three years, the NSE closed the year on the positive note, as the NSE All-Share Index returned 42.30 percent year-on-year. Market capitalization grew positively to close at N13.61tn as opposed to N9.25tn recorded at the end of 2016. The volume of transactions appreciated by 6.94 percent and market value by 108.50 percent.

According to Nigerian News website, Punch, sector performance as measured by the NSE sector indices showed that all sectors closed the year in the positive territory. The banking sector was the top-performing sector, with a return of 73.32 percent while the oil/gas sector was the top laggard, with a return of 5.76 per cent. NSE food/beverage, NSE industrial goods and NSE insurance indices recorded advancements of 36.97 per cent, 23.84 per cent and 10.36 per cent respectively.

Best and Worst performing stocks in 2017

Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc outperformed the market, with a year-on-year return of 227.33 percent, to close at N20.

Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc was followed by International Breweries Plc, which appreciated by 194.59 percent, Fidelity Bank Plc by 192.86 percent, Fidson Healthcare Plc by 189.06 percent and Dangote Flour Plc by 185.88 percent in 2017.

Morison Industries Plc was the worst performing stock in the year, with a year-on-year return of -67.88 percent year-on-year to close at a price of N0.53.

Morison Industries Plc. was followed by Forte Oil Plc with a return of -48.50 percent, University Press Plc -46.23 percent, MRS Oil Plc -36.49 percent and Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc -30.25 percent.

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