By Nkiruka Nnorom

CAPITAL market operators have said that the equities market will remain mixed this week following the near conclusion of release of quarter one, Q1’18, earning reports by quoted companies.

Activity on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, had closed negative last week after two consecutive days of positive trading was followed by Thursday’s loss of 0.48 percent, which muted the accumulated gains (0.42 percent) of the previous sessions.

As a result, the benchmark All Share Index, ASI, closed lower by 0.06 percent to 41,107.81 points.

Nigerian Stock Exchange

In his analysis and forecast, Emeka Okolo, Managing Director/CEO, Molten Securities, said that there is likely going to be a repeat of the same sentiment this week.

He said: “There is no significant thing that will move the market to any particular direction. So, I expect that this week, will be marked by an interplay of demand and supply, moreso now that many of the major companies have all released their quarter one earnings.”

Also, analysts at Cowry Asset Management Limited said: “This week, we expect the local bourse to record mixed sentiments as the first quarter earnings season winds up and as fixed income investments continue to attract herd sentiment.

Analysts at Meristem Securities observed that given the even split between sector’s gainers and losers (Two sectors – the banking and industrial goods sectors – appreciated, while three – consumer goods, oil and gas and the insurance sectors –   recorded decline) , the market sentiment will remains mixed even as the last batch of Q1’18 earnings roll in.

Meanwhile, a review of activities last week showed that investors lost N3 billion in the wake of the bearish close with the market capitalisation closing at N14.931 trillion from N14.940 trillion, also representing 0.06 percent decline.

The banking and industrial goods sectors closed in the positive, rising by 1.56 percent and 1.06 percent respectively. The consumer goods sector recorded the worst performance, depreciation by 1.89 percent, followed by the oil and gas sector, which fell by 1.42 percent, while the insurance sector nose-dived by 1.42 percent.

In all, a total turnover of 1.331billion shares worth N20.835 billion in 18,695 deals were traded by investors in contrast to a total of 1.825 billion shares valued at N24.653 billion in 23,148 deals.