Stock market to see increased bargain ahead of HI close

Nigeria’s stock market is expected to start this new week on a positive note, as portfolio/fund managers re-balance their equity portfolio ahead of the second-half (H2) which commences on Wednesday July 1 .

The market will today Monday, June 29 and Tuesday, June 30 being the last two trading sessions of this first-half (H1) 2020 witness improved activity level, preferably on the buy side of the remote trading session.

Before now, investors had continued to price-in the risk of increasing cases of Covid-19 on the economy and businesses. More Nigerians are dying from Coronavirus, new cases increasing and recoveries seemingly dropping.

“In our opinion, risks remain on the horizon due to a combination of the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in Nigeria and weak economic conditions. Thus, we continue to advise investors to trade cautiously and seek trading opportunities in only fundamentally justified stocks”, according to Lagos based analysts at Cordros Capital.

Despite a positive close last week, sentiment at the domestic bourse remained weak, as stock investors took profits on large-cap stocks.

“The domestic market remained pressured as the fear of the second wave of the Coronavirus took a toll on investors’ confidence (evidenced by four of the five trading sessions of the week closing south)’, said equity research analysts at Lagos-based Vetiva Securities.

Nigerian equities market ended the last trading session of the week on a positive note, recording an increase of 0.83percent on Friday June 26.

The market halted its six consecutive sessions of capital depreciation, driven by gains in stocks like Airtel Africa Plc, Nestle Nigeria Plc, UACN Plc and ETI Plc.

Increased bargains in favour these stocks helped to reroute the benchmark performance indicator which ended the trading week on a positive note, after rising by +0.01 percent week-on-week (WoW).

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By Iheanyi Nwachukwu • June 29, 2020

Iheanyi Nwachukwu

Iheanyi Nwachukwu, is a creative content writer with almost two decades journalism experience writing on banking, finance, capital markets, and tax. The multiple awards winning journalist is Assistant Editor, BusinessDay. Iheanyi holds BSc Degree in Economics from Imo State University; Master of Science (MSc) Degree in Management from University of Lagos. Iheanyi has attended several work-related trainings including (i) Advanced Writing and Reporting Skills (Pan African University, Lagos); (ii) News Agency Journalism (Indian Institute of Mass Communication {IIMC}, New Delhi, India); and (iii) Capital Markets Development and Regulations (International Law Institute {ILI} of Georgetown University, Washington DC, USA). Other trainings Iheanyi attended include: Economic/Political Risk Analysis (By Thomson Reuters Foundation); International Financial Journalism (IFJ) (By PMA Media Training, UK); Effective Business Writing Skills (By Phillips Consulting); Reporting on Corporate Governance (By International Finance Corporation (IFC) & Thomson Reuters Foundation UK); etc. In addition, he has participated in high-level economy & markets events in Dubai, South Africa, Morocco, and other African countries like Zambia, Ghana and Gambia.