Market News

 By : Helen Oji

..Analysts predict market rebound, anticipate bargain hunting in banks

Following profit taking embarked upon by investors, the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) reopened for the week on a downturn, yesterday, as the All Share Index (ASI) declined by 0.4 per cent.

Indeed, yesterday, the ASI lost by 471.93 points, representing a loss of 0.43 per cent to close at 108,261.47 points. Also, market capitalization declined by N296 billion to close at N68.043 trillion.

The overall downturn was impacted by losses recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are; MTN Nigeria Communications (MTNN), Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO), Nigerian Breweries, Vitafoam Nigeria and Union Dicon Salt.

Analysts linked the downturn to profit taking as investors leveraged capital appreciation recorded in the market in the past few months to recoup their investment.

Looking forward, analysts at United Capital Plc said: “The equities market might be mixed as investors await MPC’s decision on Monday and Tuesday next week. Similarly, the elevated interest rate environment would continue to dampen the equities market. Additionally, retail investors’ profit booking activity will result in selloffs and might impede the upward movement of stock prices.

“Conversely, opportunistic traders will continue to trade, taking advantage of every opportunity that emerges in the market. The continued release of Q1 2025 results will have investors cherry pick corporates with solid results, whilst those with weak performance might see selloffs. However, some investors might take position in stocks that are projected to rebound within the year.”

Vetiva Dealings and Brokerage said: “With sentiment still positive as market breadth closed higher despite the downward close, we anticipate that bargain-hunting in select banking and mid-tier names could provide some support in the next session.”

However, investor sentiment, as measured by market breadth was positive as 39 stocks advanced, while 26 declined. Meyer, Multiverse Mining & Exploration and Smart Products Nigeria recorded the highest price gain of 10 per cent each to close at N8.80 kobo, N11.00 and 55 kobo respectively.

Beta Glass followed with a gain of 9.99 per cent to close at N176.70 kobo, while Haldane McCall rose by 9.88 per cent to close at N4.67 kobo.On the other hand, eTranzact International led the losers’ chart by 10 per cent to close at N5.40 kobo. John Holt followed with a decline of 9.48 per cent to close at N5.25 kobo, while Union Dicon Salt declined by 9.47 per cent to close at N7.65 kobo.

C&I Leasing depreciated by 8.31 per cent to close at N3.86, while Linkage Assurance declined by 8.06 per cent to close at N1.14 kobo. The total volume traded declined by 10.73 per cent to 414.574 billion units, valued at N10.717 billion, and exchanged in 16,664 deals.

Transactions in the shares of Tantalizer topped the activity chart with 49.189 million shares valued at N113.210 million. VFD Group followed with 48.880 million shares worth N782.312 million, while Access Holdings traded 29.432 million shares valued at N629.377 million.

Zenith Bank traded 24.317 million shares valued at N1.181 billion, while AIICO Insurance sold 19.109 million shares worth N30.980 million.