Some finance
experts have urged investors to trade cautiously, following the wobbly
performance in the market and the slightly tense political atmosphere
in the country.
The market
capitalisation of equities at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) closed
for Easter holiday on a negative note last Thursday at N7.994 trillion
after opening the week at N8.086 trillion, reflecting N92 billion
losses.
Analysts at
Proshare Nigeria Limited, an investment advisory firm, said the stock
market experienced “rollover rally in the week, taking support from
impressive bargain position recorded in the previous week and driven
further by drop in political tension.”
However, they said the rally later lost ground during the week to “sell pressure” to close weak.
“We maintained that
market is still weak and bearish in both short and mid- long term on
the back of continued low commitment. We, therefore, implore investors
to maintain value investing approach in the coming week,” the analysts
said.
Bola Oke, a finance
expert at WealthZone Company, an investment management firm, said
heightened uncertainty in the April elections continues to weigh on the
market. She added that investors currently in the market should always
consider equities in sectors that give good return on investment.
Citing examples,
Mrs Oke said equities in sectors such as “food and beverages,
breweries, conglomerates, and banking” are blue chips stocks to invest
in, both for short and long term plans.
She said that the
commitment to development of the incoming government in the
manufacturing industry would further boost investors’ confidence in
some quoted companies that are into production.
During the past
week, Nestle Nigeria was marked down for N10.60 dividend and one for
five bonus, while Diamond Bank was marked down for 15 kobo dividend. A
total of 15 companies posted their corporate declarations for the week.
Gainers and losers
The number of
gainers in the week closed at 41 stocks compared with the 51 stocks
recorded in the previous week. RT Briscoe Plc topped the gainers chart
for the week with 15.14 per cent appreciations.
On the losers’
side, a total of 40 stocks recorded price decline in the week compared
with the 32 stocks that declined in the previous week. Oceanic Bank
topped the losers chart for the week with 14 per cent depreciation.
The Banking sector
emerged the most traded sector in the week in terms of volume. The
volume traded in the sector closed at 961.27 million units valued at
8.98 billion compared with 946.39 million units valued at N8.40 billion
in the preceding week. The volume traded in the sector accounted for
42.53 per cent of the entire market.
The Conglomerate
sector followed with 785.02 million units valued at N1.36 billion
compared with 1.34 billion units valued at N2.80 billion recorded in
the sector the previous week.
Transcorp Plc led
the market volume for the week to maintain previous position as top
traded stock on the transaction volume chart.
