Stock market closes flat amid weak investors' confidence

Nigeria stock market closed flat on Wednesday July 22 amid weak investors’ confidence seen driven by persistent global and macro-economic uncertainties.

The domestic bourse failed to take another hit from the Bears neither did it embrace the Bulls, a situation which stalled movement to any direction.

The market looked for new direction despite analysts anticipation a mixed trading session with continued sell offs in some counters and bargain hunting in others due to cheap valuations.

Gains in stocks like May & Baker, Eterna, Fidson Healthcare, NPF Microfinance Bank, and Neimeth were not strong enough to support positive close.

“I’m more concerned going into the August, September period: what’s going to then be the next catalyst to take the broader market higher,” Andrew Sheets, a cross-asset strategist at Morgan Stanley, said on Bloomberg TV. “It’s going to be a tougher period for stocks,” he added.

The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) benchmark performance indicator – the All Share Index (ASI) closed flat at 24,173.53 points while the value of listed stocks stood at N12.610trillion, same as the preceding trading day.

In 3,252 deals investors exchanged 402,636,177 units valued at N4.55billion. UACN, Nigerian Breweries , Multiverse, Sterling Bank and FBN Holdings were actively traded stocks on Wednesday.

Nigerian stocks held back by rising inflation

By Segun Adams • July 23, 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.