Julius Berger spurs market’s positives start to new week

Nigeria’s equities market opened the new week in green, though it was on a slightly upward trajectory (+0.03percent or N16billion). Thanks to investors who bought shares of Julius Berger, Livestock Feeds and Neimeth.

“We expect a mixed market close, driven by anticipated cautious trading in banking stocks amid increased regulatory scrutiny of the sector. Additionally, investor attention is expected to shift towards the bond Primary Market Auction (PMA), which may further dampen market sentiment,” said Futureview Research in their July 22 note.

Analysts did not foresee significant sell-offs in stocks ahead of Tuesday’s decisions by the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

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Julius Berger share price increased most from N87.50 to N92.50, up by N5 or 5.71percent, while that of Livestock Feeds rose from N2.20 to N2.38, up by 18kobo or 8.18percent, while Neimeth rallied from N1.74 to N1.88, up by 14kobo or 8.05percent.

“This week, we anticipate increased equities market activity ahead of corporate earnings releases and potential dividend declarations. Occasional buying interest in fundamentally strong stocks that declined last week, along with the ongoing recapitalization exercise, is expected to sustain activity,” said Meristem analysts in their July 22 note to investors.

They do not foresee significant sell-offs ahead of the MPC meeting, as investors likely priced this into their positions. “However, the bonds and T-bills auction might moderate fund inflows into the market, and uncertainty about the windfall tax could dampen sentiment in the banking sector. Overall, we expect the equities market to close positively this week,” Meristem analysts added.

The Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) All-Share Index and Market Capitalisation rose from preceding day’s 100,539.40 points and N56.929 trillion respectively to 100,568.63 points and N56.945 trillion.

In 8,760 deals, investors exchanged 335,704,787 shares worth N3.717billion.

Stocks of Ellah Lakes, Universal Insurance, United Capital, Veritas Kapital Assurance and FCMB Group were actively traded.