Analysts anticipate that investors will be more selective in their offers, and this assumption helped Nigeria’s stock market start the election week on a good note.
The Bourse’s buy-side participants had opportunity to enhance their holdings of fundamentally good equities during last week’s downward momentum.
With a N3.50 or 9.93% gain in its share price from N35.25 to N38.75, Conoil Plc took the top spot in the advancers league. Livingtrust Mortgage Bank Plc gained from N2.30 to N2.52 by 22 kobo or 9.57 percent, coming in second.
Some notable movers and shakers include John Holt, who increased from N1.33 to N1.46, adding 13kobo or 9.77%, and Tripple G, who increased from N1.99 to N2.18, gaining 19kobo or 9.55%.
At the closing of trade, the market had increased by 0.78 percent, or N228 billion, bringing the year-to-date (YtD) return to 5.80 percent. The All-Share Index (ASI) for the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) rose from 53,804.46 points and N29.310 trillion to 54,224.35 points and N29.538 trillion, respectively, from the previous day.
Investors exchanged 154,628,198 shares for N5.505 billion in 3,095 transactions. The top five traded equities on the NGX were GTCO, Zenith Bank, AIICO, Axa Mansard, and Livingtrust Mortgage Bank.
“Our long-anticipated prediction of a trend reversal with the bears taking the lead has materialized. We anticipate a sustained bearish momentum going into the week, with post-election concerns igniting the bear market.“We recommend that Buy-Side investors and fund managers sit on the sideline, in a bid “wait and observe” the market.
Equity stakeholders can look to book profits off stocks that have crossed the overbought region as indicated by the RSI.But, according to United Capital research analysts, “we anticipate that this temporary bearish trend would give more opportunities for the Buy-Side to grow holdings (in the near-term) on fundamentally good firms with improved valuation and dividend performance.”
As the elections draw near, Lagos-based Vetiva analysts said they expect investors to be more selective with their bids and anticipate a mixed session on Tuesday. They also noted that Monday’s market activity was dominated by small-cap names.
