Stock market opens week on a negative note as mixed sentiment persists

Nigeria’s equities market kicked off the new on a negative note (-0.11percent) as mixed sentiment persist among stock investors.

“We anticipate a mixed start to the week, as investors retain a cautious outlook amid higher interest rates in the secondary market,” Vetiva research analysts said in their December 9 note titled ‘The Week Ahead’.

The Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) All-Share Index (ASI) and equities market capitalisation decreased from preceding day’s highs of 98,210.75 points and N59.534 trillion respectively to 98,107.52 points and N59.471 trillion. In 9,489 deals, investors exchanged 436,039,692 shares worth N12.864billion.

“We anticipate a mildly negative close to the week as investors take profits from high-performing stocks ahead of the upcoming fixed income auction and ongoing portfolio rebalancing,” Futureview research analysts said in their recent note.

FCMB Group, Access Holdings, UBA, GTCO, and Fidelity Bank were actively traded stocks. RTBriscoe led the league of laggards while Golden Guinea Breweries rallied most on the Bourse. RTBriscoe decreased from N2.45 to N2.30, losing 15kobo or 6.12percent, while Golden Guinea Breweries rose most, from N5.40 to N5.94, adding 54kobo or 10percent.

“We anticipate the market to close on a positive note, driven by heightened bargain-hunting activity amid mild sell-off pressures, as investors particularly portfolio managers seek to realign their portfolios as the year-end approaches, taking advantage of solid stocks currently available at attractive prices,” Meristem research analysts said.

“Building on last week’s performance where the broad market witnessed a significant improvement in

market breath, expanding by 150.95 percent week-on-week (WoW) to 1.61x (vs 0.64x in the previous week), we expect continued broad market performance as market participants seek short-term gains as the year ends.

“Nonetheless, we acknowledge the potential for profit-taking activities on tickers that have rallied in recent weeks. Overall, we project that the local bourse should end the week in the positive territory,” Meristem analysts further said in their December 9 note.