Nigerian bourse begins the week positive as Index up 0.06%

The Nigerian bourse started the week positive, with the market All-Share Index (ASI) inching up marginally by 0.06 per cent to 37,647.93 points, as investors continued bargain hunting.

As a result, the Month-to-Date and Year-to-Date losses moderated to -1.65 per cent and -1.56 per cent, respectively.

Among the major sector indices, the Banking (+0.07%) and Oil & Gas (+0.02%) indices posted positive returns, following interests in ETI (+2.00%) and FO (+3.04%) stocks respectively.

On the flip side, the Industrial Goods (-0.46%), Consumer Goods (-0.18%), and Insurance (-0.17%) indices closed negative, amidst sell pressures in the shares of WAPCO (-2.56%), DANGSUGAR (-3.78%), and REGALINS (-4.17%), respectively.

Market breadth remained negative, with 25 losers and 19 gainers, led by UNITYBNK (-9.01%) and CAVERTON (+9.95%). Total volume and value of trades dropped by 51.45% and 35.19%, to 155.17 million units and NGN 1.99 billion, respectively, exchanged in 3,422 deals.

In the view of analysts at Cordros Capital, the market holds potential for gains in the long term, supported by positive macroeconomic outlook. However, in the absence of a positive one-off trigger in the near term, we think the market will remain volatile in the short-to-medium term.

Also, the naira traded flat against the dollar at NGN362 in the parallel market, while it appreciated by 0.16 per cent to NGN362 in the I&E FX window. Total turnover in the IEW was lower by 21.63 per cent, at USD179.06 million, traded within the NGN345-NGN363/USD band.