Stock Market: Investors Lose N547bn Last Week

• Stock Market: Investors Lose N547bn Last Week

Investors at the Nigerian Stock Exchange Market lost N547 billion last week as business confidence continues to drop despite better oil outlook and positive economic projections by both African Development Bank and International Monetary Fund.

The NSE All-Share Index declined by 4.6 percent to close at 29,616.38, while market capitalization shed N547 billion to close at N11.124 trillion.

Investors continue to relinquish their positions despite positive financial results from companies in the last two weeks. The year-to-date return declined to 5.8 percent.

African Development Bank, in its economic outlook for 2019 released last week, said Nigeria’s economy remains at moderate risk of debt distress given its public debt to GDP is 17.5 percent.

Also, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) revealed the economy is growing and will broaden even further in 2019, especially with better than expected crude oil outlook.

Still, business confidence remains weak across key sectors. Few market experts attributed it to policy uncertainty going forward.

Speaking on the stock market, analysts at Cordros Capital Limited said: “In the absence of a positive catalyst, we guide investors to trade cautiously in the short term. However, stable macroeconomic fundamentals and compelling valuation remain supportive of recovery in the mid-to-long.”

However, analysts at Afrinvest West Africa said: “Despite the overall negative performance, we observed increased buying activity on bellwether stocks, and we expect this trend to be sustained in the coming week as investors seek to take position in attractively priced stocks.

“However, in the absence of major triggers that could drive positive sentiments, we maintain a bearish near-term outlook.”