Nigeria’s stocks see N82bn gain on increased buy pressure

In the trading week ended Friday August 14, Nigeria’s stock market recorded value increase in excess of N82billion amid increased activities on the buy-side of Bourse.

The market rallied on the back of gains in Consumer Goods (+2.25 percent) stocks as well as that of Oil & Gas (+5.92 percent), and Insurance (+1. 12 percent) as more investors took position in fundamentally attractive counters as against pockets of profit taking activities in Banking sector (-0.03 percent)
and Industrial Goods (-2.71 percent).

Despite the record positive sentiment in the market, analysts foresee limited upward price movement next week because investors will route to take profit on stocks that have seen significant share price appreciation.

Week-on-week (WoW), the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All-Share Index (ASI) and Market Capitalisation appreciated by +0.63 percent to 25,199.84 points and N13.145trillion as against week-open low of 25,041.89 points and N13.063 trillion respectively.

“As COVID-19 restrictions are further eased, expectations for corporate performance appear to brighten up from the pessimism expected earlier in the year. Although pre existing risks remain, investors have reacted positively to results that were resilient in half-year (H1) 2020 and show promise of dividend payment”, according to Lagos-based analysts at Meristem.