Geregu, others cause market’s negative start to May trading

Nigeria’s equities market started the new month of May on a negative note, declining by 0.20 percent at the close of trading session on Tuesday, the first trading day of the week.

Analysts at Lagos-based Meristem research said they expect positive mood to be sustained this week “hinged on profitable opportunities on key tickers prices in relation to our valuation targets”.
The analysts noted that system liquidity is high “and this poses an opportunity for the flow of funds into the equity market.
“We however note that this preview can be hindered by profit-taking actions on bellwether tickers, which typically call the shots in the market. Overall, we anticipate the All-Share Index to record gains this week”.

Femi Otedola’s Geregu Power led the league of laggards after its share price moved down from preceding day high of N323 to N290.70, down by N32.30 or 10percent.

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Investors may have also priced-in the risk of the billionaire businessman selling his shares in Transcorp as its share price which was nearing a 52-week high, moved down from N2.81 to N2.53, losing 28kobo or 9.96percent. Also, International Breweries dropped from a high of N4.70 to N4.30, losing 40kobo or 8.51percent.

Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) All-Share Index and its Market Capitalisation depreciated from preceding day high of 52,403.51points and N28.534 trillion respectively to 52,296.48 points and N28.475trillion. The stock market’s positive return year-to-date (YtD) printed lower at 2.05percent.

Also, United Capital research analysts said they expect last week’s bullish sentiments to continue, “as investors look to take advantage of fundamentally sound stocks with low pricings, with first quarter (Q1) 2023 earnings season already underway. However, we see room for pockets of profit-taking activities.”

In 6,250 deals, investors exchanged 550,293,697 shares valued at N5.150billion. Access Corporation, Transcorp Axa Mansard, Coronation Insurance and Fidelity Bank were top-5 traded stocks on Tuesday.