Nigeria surpassed South Korea as the world's best stock market, with a 68 per cent return on the dollar

THE NIGERIAN STOCK MARKET, WITH A RATE OF RETURN OF 68 PER CENT IN UNITED STATES DOLLARS, OUTPACED SOUTH KOREA AND BECAME THE BEST STOCK MARKET IN THE WORLD. ACCORDING TO THE GLOBAL MARKETPLACE INVESTOR ANALYSIS PLATFORM, NIGERIAN EQUITIES HAVE EXCEEDED KOREAN EQUITIES IN DOLLAR-DENOMINATED RETURNS AND ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE TO LEAD THE GLOBAL MARKET BY 2026. SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR, NIGERIA ' S BENCHMARK UNIT HAS INCREASED BY ABOUT 68 PER CENT IN DOLLAR TERMS, SLIGHTLY EXCEEDING THE RETURN OF 66 PER CENT OF KOREA ' S KOSPI. THIS RANKING IS BASED ON DATA FROM 92 STOCK EXCHANGES COVERED BY BLOOMBERG. THE LEADERSHIP SHIFT IN THE SOUTH KOREAN MARKET HAS BEEN DRIVEN BY A SHARP REVERSAL IN ITS MARKET, WITH KOSPI FALLING BY ABOUT 22 PER CENT SINCE ITS PEAK ON 19 JUNE AND ENTERING THE TECHNICAL BEAR MARKET THIS WEEK, EXACERBATED BY FEELINGS ABOUT ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE-RELATED STOCKS. MEANWHILE, THE RISE IN NIGERIA WAS SUPPORTED BY ECONOMIC REFORMS, RISING OIL PRICES AND IMPROVED FOREIGN EXCHANGE LIQUIDITY. ACCORDING TO ANALYSTS, THE RISE IN NIGERIA CONTRASTS SHARPLY WITH THE DEPENDENCE OF THE KOREAN MARKET ON SEMICONDUCTOR AND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE-RELATED EQUITIES, WHICH REMAIN HIGHLY VOLATILE。