Buoyed by sustained demand in the shares of Seplat, Fidelity Bank and First Bank Nigeria Holdings, FBNH, the stock market has inched up marginally by 0.09% to return the market to positive position.
Specifically, the gains in Seplat by 5.09% Week-on-Week, WoW, Fidelity Bank 13.07% and FBNH 4.0% significantly impacted the major stock market indicator, Nigerian Exchange, NGX, All Share Index, ASI, which inched up by 0.09% to close the week at 97606.63 points from 97,520.54 points the previous week.Why we abandoned our respective businesses to take up keke riding — Mr & Mrs Akinbo0:00 / 0:00
Similarly, another major market gauge, market capitalization, appreciated marginally by N5 billion WoW to settle at N56.088 trillion from N56.038 trillion the previous week.
Analysts said that market players have continued to take profit and reposition their portfolio ahead of quarterly earnings and macroeconomic data inflow in the midst of higher rates in fixed income instruments and expected last quarter and end of the year seasonality.
They further noted that the pullbacks and breadth contraction in the market provide buy opportunities for discerning investors and smart traders amid repositioning of portfolios along sectors and companies with potentials to release positive numbers on the strength of their earnings power continue ahead of the third quarter, Q3 earnings reporting season.
Also, early filers are expected to kick start the earnings season next week, just as focus are on the September Consumer Price Index reports from the National Bureau of Statistics NBS. These numbers are likely to guide investing public decision ahead of CBN policy meeting in November.
Nigerian Breweries and others notified the NGX of their closure periods and board meeting dates to approve their scorecards this month.
Commenting on the market performance, analysts at InvestData Consulting Limited stated: “We note that the economic reforms of the government, measured by the outpouring of fiscal and monetary policies are yet to put the nation’s economy on the path of recovery, despite the seeming slowdown inflation and mixed macroeconomic data. There are also issues with the implementation style amid the oscillating oil production output even as the Naira continues to depreciate at a time that oil is trading above $79 per barrel at the international market”.
On market outlook, the analysts said: “We expect mixed sentiment to continue on profit taking, buying interests and portfolio rebalancing ahead of the Q3 earnings reporting session. Also, sector rotation continues in the market, with investors taking advantage of pullbacks to buy into value.
This is amid the volatility and pullbacks that add more strength to upside potential. Consequently, investors should take advantage of price correction. Also looking at the trends and events across the globe and domestically.”
Source: The Vanguard
