Stock market opens March in red

Nigeria’s equities market opened the month of March in red, decreasing by 0.34 percent at the close of trading on Monday, March 3.

The Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) All-Share Index (ASI) and equities market capitalisation which closed last month at 107,821.39 points and N67.193trillion decreased to 107,455.13 points and N67.287 trillion.

Despite the negative start to March, Futureview research analysts believe that the market is poised for a positive trend this week, “driven by renewed investor interest in undervalued stocks”.

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“Favourable corporate actions and strong earnings reports are expected to boost sentiment and support market recovery,” they added in their March 3 note to investors.

Zenith Bank, Fidelity Bank, Access Holdings, NGX Group, and Ellah Lakes. While NGX Group led the league of major advancers after rising from N30 to N33, up by N3 or 10percent, the Africa Prudential decreased most from N35.40 to N32.05, losing N3.35 or 9.46 percent.

“The market is expected to remain cautious in the next session as investors digest today’s mixed performance. Persistent weakness in banking stocks could keep sentiment subdued, while earnings-driven moves may drive volatility in select counters,” Vetiva research analysts said in their post-market commentary on Monday March 3.

In 15,474 deals, investors exchanged 308,089,254 shares valued at N7.231billion. This month, the market positive return stood lower at 4.40 percent.

“Looking forward, the equities market is expected to maintain its positive momentum as investors continue to position themselves ahead of the FY-2024 earnings season and possible corporate action declarations.

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“Nevertheless, given the elevated interest rate environment in the fixed-income market, we still expect bearish sentiments to linger in the background,” according to United Capital in their March 3 note.