Stocks lose N231bn as week opens

Nigeria’s stock market opened a new week in red, decreasing by 0.34 percent or N231billion at the close of trading on Monday February 24.

The share price of Northern Nigeria Flour Mills (NNFM) which led the decliners league decreased from day-open high of N80.60 to N72.55, losing N8.05 or 9.99percent.

It was followed by Eunisell Interlinked which dropped from N12.05 to N10.85, down by N1.20 or 9.96 percent, and UPDC REIT which was also down from a high of N6.75 to N6.30, losing 45kobo or 6.67 percent

In their expectation for this week, Futureview analysts said, “We expect the equities market to trade mixed in this week amid investors focus in the FGN Bond auction and renewed interest in undervalued stocks”.

Meristem research analysts said, “We expect the NGX-ASI to close in the green zone as investors continue to position in stocks with strong fundamentals, which should help maintain market momentum.

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“We project that the recent hold stance in monetary policy could provide some succour, boosting positive sentiments towards equity assets. Also, with the earnings season underway, we anticipate that the buying interest would outpace selling pressures as investors position themselves ahead of companies’ full-year releases and dividend declaration” the analysts said.

“Moreover, we acknowledge the possibility of profit-taking as investors capitalize on gains on stocks that have recently appreciated. On a broad scale, we see the positive bias prevailing, with the local bourse closing the week in the green zone,” Meristem research analysts further said.

Stocks like Jaiz Bank, Zenith Bank, Universal Insurance, GTCO and Access Holdings were actively traded on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) as investors in 15,914 deals exchanged 357,758,781 shares worth N9.211billion.

The Nigerian Exchange Limited All-Share Index (ASI) and equities market capitalisation decreased from preceding trading day’s highs of 108,497.4 points and N67.614 trillion to 108,126.97 points and N67.383trillion.

“Looking forward, the equities market is expected to maintain its positive momentum as investors continue to position themselves ahead of the FY-2024 earnings season and possible corporate action declarations. Nevertheless, given the elevated interest rate environment in the fixed-income market, we still expect bearish sentiments to linger in the background,” United Capital research analysts said on Monday.