Analysts Expect Stock Market to Move Higher

• Analysts Expect Stock Market to Move Higher

Capital market analysts expect the equities segment of the Nigerian Stock Exchange to close higher when trading resumes on Tuesday.

Last week, the stock market closed on a positive note after falling for two straight days.

It was a four-day trading week as the Federal Government declared Friday and Monday as public holidays in commemoration of the Easter celebration.

The NSE market capitalisation stood at N8.827tn on Thursday, down from the N8.909tn it opened for the week.

The NSE All-Share Index, which fell to 25,478.06 basis points on Tuesday, increased to 25,510.01 bps on Thursday.

Analysts at Vetiva Capital Management Limited said in a shortened trading week owing to the Easter holidays, the Nigerian bourse traded mostly lower with the NSE ASI down by 92bps week-on-week to extend year-to-date losses to 5.1 per cent.

They said following firm gains across a handful of stocks in the prior week, the market opened the week lower as investors resorted to quick profit-taking.

On what would the shape market this week, the analysts said, “We believe the sustained positive market gains and market breadth (18 gainers vs 13 losers) towards week close suggest the profit-taking that weighed on the ASI earlier in the week has cooled off to some extent.

“We believe this improved sentiment would lift the market to a green open on Tuesday (after the Easter break).”

Analysts at Meristem Securities Limited are of the view that the negative outing recorded last week was driven by profit-taking activities on counters that had rallied in past weeks.

They said, “These profit-taking activities were also noted on some counters that recorded considerable gains in their financial scorecards. In the coming week, we expect the current trend to persist, however, we do not rule out position-taking on counters trading at very low prices.”