Despite profit-taking activities and mixed trend experienced last week, the stock market edged slightly higher by 0.17%, as investors trade cautiously ahead of the Yuletide.
The market was driven by increased investors’ demand for Access Corporation, which gained 12.2% followed by Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, ETI 21.4% and First Bank Nigeria Holding, FBNH 7.7 % among others.
Accordingly, the Nigerian Exchange Limited, NGX All-share Index, ASI rose by 0.17 % Week on Week, W/W to close on Friday at 71,541.74 points, translating to Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date returns of +0.2% and +39.6%, respectively. The market capitalisation up N66 billion W/W to close at N39.148 trillion. from N39.083 trillion.
Despite the marginal increase in the benchmark index, total traded volume experienced a slowdown, decreasing by 5.0% W/W, while the traded value increased by 16.4% W/W. On a sectoral level, performance was mixed, with gains observed in the Banking Index by 6.1% and Consumer Goods Index 0.2% , while the Industrial Goods Index declined by 3.0%, Insurance Index 1.4% and Oil and Gas Index 0.6%.
Commenting on market outlook, analysts at Cordros Research stated: “ We expect the market to remain mixed in the coming week as investors cherry-pick counters given the absence of any significant positive catalysts. Overall, we reiterate the need for investors to seek positions in only fundamentally justified stocks as the weak macro environment remains a significant headwind for corporate earnings.”
Reacting as well, analysts at InvestData Consulting said: “There is also the mixed outlook for the month of December and Q1 2024 due to the current policy direction of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
We are worried that the apex bank is heating up the already weak economy with its latest plans fo
r stress testing of the nation’s banks, coupled with how the government hopes to implement the 2024 national budget and grow the country into a US$1trillion economy over the next seven years. This remains unclear to the investing public and would require a road map, even as we hope that managers of Nigeria’s economy will formulate the right policies to achieve the expectation, among others while ensuring fiscal responsibility and maintaining a frugal disposition- a wide departure from the current norm. Already, we note that there is a divergence in economic policies and expectations, and hope to see how the government and its economic managers will achieve the target under the current policy direction.”
