Also, the market capitalisation of equities rose by N362 billion or 5.5 per cent to close at N6.895 trillion, from N6.887 trillion from the beginning of the year.

The performance is an improvement compared with a growth of 0.8 per cent in the first half of 2011. But for profit-taking by some investors, the growth would have been higher as the index had in May hit a record high of 22,665.99 translating to a year-to-date growth of 9.3 per cent.

A shift of investment from equities market to fixed income securities and profit-taking depressed the growth to 4.2 per cent by the close of H1 of 2012 last Friday.

Commenting on the performance of the market in the first six months of year, Head, Asset Management, FBN Capital Limited, Mr. Michael Oyebola, said with Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) cleaning up the final pieces in the banking sector and the implementation of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) by the end of 2012 and relative cheapness of listed Nigerian equities there was hope for positive returns on the equity market.

The rally peaked by second week of May. However, the global economic crisis especially in the Eurozone has led to a re-rating of risk and investment destinations and the Nigerian financial market has felt its impact," he said.