WITH the recent bearish sentiments in the Nigerian capital market, largely owing to investors booking profits accrued to their equities investments notable in the bullish rally in recent times, investors are poised to reshuffle their portfolio to recoup gains in fixed income market.

With the rising yield in the fixed income market, expectations of unimpressive earnings, outcome of the monetary policy meeting, there are expectations that in the coming week, the equities market will further dampen, as analysts advise equities investors to trade cautiously.

At Cordros Capital, analysts anticipate cautious trading in stocks this week due to uncertainty surrounding the upcoming Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting scheduled for today and tomorrow.

Related PostsEquities market opens week bearish as investors lose N51bnNGX positioned to widen retail investors participation in capital market —Ag CEONGX: Stock market halts losses as investors earn N165.1bn

“We expect limited bargain-hunting activity in the near term due to prevailing negative sentiments driven by movements in fixed income market yields and uninspiring earnings releases,” Cordros said in its weekly report.

Also, Cowry Asset Research showed anticipation for a continuous bearish sentiment this week as the market seek catalyst and policy direction from economic managers to trigger the positive sentiment.

It said, “However, as we anticipate more corporate releases for the final quarter of 2023, investors will begin to rebalance their portfolio in their search for alpha amidst the rising fixed income yields and outcome of the monetary policy meeting. Meanwhile, we continue to advise investors on taking positions in stocks with sound fundamentals.”

Last week, the Nigerian equities market suffered a loss of approximately N1.988 trillion by the end of the trading week as the domestic bourse encountered significant selling pressure.

The local bourse witnessed a decline of 3.44 percent, with the benchmark index settling at 102,088.30 basis points. This is a decrease from its opening position of 105,722.78 basis points at the beginning of the trading week on Monday.

The All-Share Index (ASI), the benchmark index measuring the performance of Nigerian stocks, opened the trading week at 105,722.78 index points on Monday, February 19 and closed at 102,088.30 points at the end of the week on February 23. This represents a loss of 3,634.48 basis points or 3.44 percent.

Further analysis, according to data from the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) revealed that the market capitalization, which opened the trading week at N57.849 trillion, closed the week at N55.861 trillion, resulting in a week-to-date loss of about N1.988 trillion.

Similarly, all other indices finished lower with the exception of NGX ASem, NGX consumer goods and NGX oil and gas, which appreciated by 11.66 percent, 2.01 percent and 0.01 percent, respectively.

A total turnover of 1.377 billion shares worth N31.584 billion in 42,040 deals was traded during the week by investors on the floor of the exchange, in contrast to a total of 1.559 billion shares valued at N36.497 billion that exchanged hands the previous week in 42,546 deals.

The financial services industry, measured by volume, led the activity chart with 960.519 million shares valued at N16.844 billion traded in 19,669 deals, thus contributing 69.77 percent and 53.33 percent to the total equity turnover volume and value, respectively.

The conglomerates industry followed with 115.241 million shares worth N1.511 billion in 2,859 deals. The third place was the oil and gas industry, with a turnover of 80.866 million shares worth N1.721 billion in 2,726 deals.

Trading in the top three equities namely; Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc, FBN Holdings Plc and Transnational Corporation Plc, measured by volume, accounted for 343.584 million shares worth N9.431 billion in 5,659 deals, contributing 24.96 percent and 29.86 percent to the total equity turnover volume and value, respectively.

Copyright © 2022 Nigerian Tribune Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info).