Equities market sees negative start to holiday shortened week

Nigeria’s stock ma rke t opened this four-day trading week on a negative note, driven by insurance, oil & gas, industrial good, and banking stocks that put pressure on the sell side of the bourse despite bargains in consumer goods stocks.

The Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) All Share Index (ASI) decreased by 0.10percent on Tuesday May 4, being the first trading day in the new week.

This negative start to a new week implies that market gradually defies most analysts’ outlook on Nigeria equities. Investor N17billion on Tuesday.

“Following the bullish reaction to the series of firstquarter (Q1) solid earnings releases, we expect the dust in the market to settle this week as market participants buy the dip on attractive names at discounted valuations and book profits on overstretched tickers as rising fixed income yields continue to weigh on investor sentiment”, said Lagosbased analysts at United Capital Plc.

Linkage Assurance Plc led the laggards after its share price moved from 61kobo to 53kobo, losing 8kobo or 13.11percent, while Lasaco advanced most, from N1.42 to N1.56, adding 14kobo or 9.86percent. FBN Holdings, Access lost

Bank, Zenith Bank, Lafarge Africa and FCMB Group were most traded stocks on the Bourse.

Also, Meristem Research analysts said, “First-quarter corporate results released so far have been broadly impressive across most sectors – including the agriculture, consumer and industrial goods sectors. We expect positive investor sentiments (as observed over the past two weeks) to linger this week, supporting the market’s overall performance,” Meristem analysts added.

“While we do not completely rule out the possibility of profit-taking activities this week, we expect bargain hunting opportunities and buying interests to have the upper hand.