ShareWith the colossal loss of revenue which arose from the five-day strike action occasioned by the organised labour for the government to revert the unit of pump price of petroleum to N65, stock market experts have said that the subsidy removal may further cause disaffection among investors in the market. The experts said the removal of subsidy would further result in deepening the value of equities market which in the last two years has been struggling to stabilise in terms of transactions and returns to investors. It is said that about N450 billion was lost by all economic units due to the strike action. According to the Managing Director, Crane Securities Limited, Mr Mike Eze, the immediate effect of the subsidy removal on the capital market was that shareholders were likely to hold back their funds in anticipation of what may greet the action taken by the Federal Government. Eze, who said such policy action normally ellicited abnormal reactions from people in emerging markets like Nigeria noted that the capital market was not likely to see any investment during the first two weeks of this month. He expressed optimism that though there would be some apprehension that would discourage investment in the capital market, 2012 would be better going by current reforms to shore up confidence and restore the market to its past glory as centre for capital formation. “People are going to hold back their funds because of the uncertainty, but when the coast is clear, there will be a rush in the market that will reinforce the performance indices,” he said. The President of Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS), Mr Mike Itagboje, had recently expressed fears on what the policy thrust of oil subsidy removal would portend for the economy and the capital market particularly, and urged that it be properly handled. Citing the situation in the Middle East in the wake of Arab crisis, and how their markets went down, Itagboje warned: “We must be careful about how we handle such issues as removal of fuel subsidy in this nation so that the market will not be forced by circumstances beyond its control, to close down.” According to the stockbroker, the economy is very key to any investor whether local or international. “If the economy is engulfed in crisis, investors will not want to come. So, we are concerned about what happens in the general economy and what government does.