Though the Nigerian stock market stands the chance of repeating Wednesday’s positive trading pattern in today (Thursday March 19), but the possibility of profit taking on recent gains cannot be overruled when dealing members start to trade stocks this morning.
Aided by MTNN shares, Nigeria stocks rebounded by 1.09percent on Wednesday March 18 after record steep falls the preceding trading day.
“Looking ahead, we still see sizeable legroom for further downslide in risk assets as investors continue to run towards safety in the face of the precipitous decline in oil price”, Cordros Research analysts said in their recent note.
Declining crude oil price and coronavirus pandemic continue to dampen investors’ appetite for naira assets.
Government of Nigeria’s commercial capital has moved to restrict public gatherings, shut schools and religious gatherings of over 50 people in line with efforts to curtail spread of Coronavirus pandemic.
At the Nigerian Bourse, investors had gained N129billion on Wednesday as evidenced in the value of listed stocks which increased from preceding day low of N11.747trillion to N11.876trillion.
MTNN increased most, from N95 to N104.5, adding N9.5 or 10percent, followed by GTBank which moved from N19.6 to N20.9, after adding N1.3 or 6.63percent.
Nestle Nigeria Plc led the decliners’ league after it moving from N915.3 to N880, losing N35.3 or 3.86percent, and Okomu Oil Palm Plc which decreased from N60 to N55.05, shedding N4.95 or 8.25percent.
The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All Share Index (ASI) increased from 22,543.07points to 22,789.64 points. Week-to-date (WtD), the market increased by 0.25percent; month-to-date (MtD) it has decreased by 13.07percent, while the year-to-date (Ytd) return is still in negative of 15.10percent.
Equity dealers in 7,247 deals exchanged 671,519,295 units valued at N10.578billion. GTBank, Zenith, Access, FBNH, and Stanbic IBTC were highly traded stocks.
Brent crude traded down $1.39, or nearly 5percent, at $27.34 a barrel, after dropping to $27.31, its lowest since early 2016.
“The oil demand collapse from the spreading coronavirus looks increasingly sharp,” Goldman Sachs said in a note forecasting a fall in the price of Brent to as low as $20 in the second quarter, a level not seen since early 2002.
Nigeria, an oil producing country Wednesday confirmed five new cases of the coronavirus in four weeks.
The latest cases bring the total confirmed cases so far to eight. All 5 cases had a travel history to the UK and USA according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC).
The agency also urged Nigerians to remain calm as public health response activities are intensified across the country. Nigeria has placed travel restrictions to 13 countries.
The countries include China, Italy, Iran, South Korea, Spain, Japan, France, Germany, the United States of America, Norway, the United Kingdom, Netherlands and Switzerland. All travelers returning from these countries prior to the restriction will be in supervised self-isolation, monitored by Nigeria Center for disease control (NCDC) and Port Health Services.
