The Nigerian stock market rebounded last week in a positive sentiment, with investors in the Nigerian Exchange Limited, NGX, gaining N3.26 trillion.
Strong performances in MTN Nigeria Week-on-Week, WoW, rising by 10.31%, followed by 4.44% in BUA Cement and 2.35% in GEREGU drove the market’s positive performance, outweighing losses in Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, ETI , which dropped by 17.01% W/W, followed by Nigerian Breweries 10.77% and International Breweries 10.21%. Consequently, the Year-to-Date (YtD) return rose to 35.52%, while the market capitalisation, which represents the total value of investment on the Exchange gained N3.26 trillion W/W to close at N57.29 trillion from N54.04 trillion the previous week.
Another stock market gauge, NGX All Share Index, ASI rose 2.61% to close at 101,330.85 points from 98.751.98 points the previous week.
Analysts have emphasised that the nation’s economic reality continues to reflect on corporate and economic numbers in recent time as 2023 audited financials released so far remain mixed and weak, especially among manufacturing companies to reveal the impact of government policies on the economy as headwinds persisted. This arises from foreign exchange hiccups which is putting pressure on companies operations and performance which had led to many reporting negative earnings, leaving zero reward for their shareholders.
On market outlook, analysts at InvestData Consulting stated: “We expect a continuation of the mixed sentiments as investors and traders digest the latest developments at the fixed income market, with Treasury Bills, TB’s yield at 21.5%, just as more corporate earnings with dividend are expected to hits the market and investors take advantage of low valuation to position and rebalancing portfolio. “This is amid the volatility and pullbacks that add more strength to upside potential. As such, investors should take advantage of price correction. Also looking at the trends and events across the globe and domestically.”
