Stocks lose N41bn as week opens

Nigeria’s stock market decreased by 0.17percent or N41billion on Monday October 31 as more investors moved to the sell-side of the Bourse to take profit on some equities. The record negative close pushed the market’s positive return lower to 2.63percent.

“In the short-term, we still expect earnings results to dictate market direction, as investors continue to trade cautiously,” said research analysts at Vetiva.

In the month of October, the market decreased by 10.58percent as investors moved for attractive yield in the fixed income (FI) market following Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) hawkish monetary policy approach amid rising rate of inflation in Africa’s largest economy.

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“We expect bearish sentiment to continue to dominate the market as investors remain on the sidelines with sight on attractive yield environment in the fixed-income market,” research analysts at Lagos-based United Capital said in their October 31 note to investors.

“However, we may see some bargain hunting in stocks with underlying fundamentals as investors are likely to take positions in fundamentally sound stocks with fantastic third-quarter (Q3) 2022 earnings, especially dividend paying stocks,” they added.