Trading activities on the Nigerian equities market this week, is expected to commence on a positive as investors reposition for the New Year.
It is going to be a four day trading session as government declared Monday, January 3, 2022 as public holidays to mark New Year’s Day celebration.
Analysts Optimism
Analysts at Cowry Assets Management Limited stated that, “in the first week of the new year, we expect the local bourse to remain elevated as investors position in readiness for dividend distributions in the first quarter of 2022.”
Also, Cordros Securities Limited stated that “in the first trading week of the new year, we expect the bulls to retain dominance as buying activities due to positioning for 2021 full year dividends will likely suppress selling activities.
“However, we advise investors to take positions in only fundamentally justified stocks as the weak macro environment remains a significant headwind for corporate earnings.”
However, analysts at Afrinvest Limited noted that “this week, we expect the market to resume trading in the New Year on a negative note as we anticipate profit-taking.”
Last Week’s Trading Activities
The Nigerian equities market ended the last trading week of 2021 on a bullish note. It was a three-day trading week as the federal government declared Monday 26th and Tuesday 27th of December, 2021 as Public Holidays in commemoration of the Christmas and Boxing day Celebration.
The All-Share Index (ASI) edged up by 1.07 per cent to close at 42,716.44 points. Similarly, market capitalisation rose N471 billion week-on-week (W-o-W) to close at N22.297 trillion.
Notably, investors’ buying interest in Nestle Nigeria, MTN Nigeria Communications (MTNN), Access Bank and Zenith Bank drove the benchmark index higher. Accordingly, the month-to-date loss moderated to 1.2 per cent, while the year-to-date return for the index closed the year at 6.1 per cent, substantially lower than the 50.0 per cent gain recorded in the year 2020.Similarly, the sector gauges mirrored the benchmark index as three of the five sub-indices closed in green. Specifically, the NGX Consumer Goods index rose by 6.24 per cent to close at 589.28 points. Also, the NGX Banking and the NGX Insurance indices gained 2.61 per cent and 1.88 per cent to close at 406.07 points and 198.11 points respectively. However, the NGX Oil & Gas and the NGX Industrial indices fell by 1.09 per cent and 3.91 per cent to close at 345.01 points and 2,008.30 points respectively. GTCO, 9 Others List […]
