*Profit taking still looms

By Nkiruka Nnorom

AFTER closing in the red, analysts have said that the equities market will trend up this week following bargain hunting activities by investors.

Though the outcome of trading last week was at variance with expectations, they noted that investors would take advantage of low prices of some stocks to access the market, while not discounting the possibility of profit taking.

According to analysts at  Cowry Asset Management, the Nigerian Stock Exchange,  NSE, All Share Index, ASI, will increase marginally as investors digest the “mixed-bag” of first quarter 2019 (Q1’19) financial results released by corporates.

Nigerian Stock Exchange

“Hence, we feel investors would take advantage of the low share prices to raise the local bourse upwards,” they said.

Also, analysts at Vetiva Securities, said: “We expect to see a mixed open to the new week as investors hunt for bargains on some of the counters like Tier 1 banks and Dangote Cement Plc, which is scheduled to release its Q1’19 results on Tuesday. However, we do not rule out the possibility of continuous profit taking on some names as seen this week.”

However, analysts at Afrinvest Securities said that the negative mood will persist. They said: “Given the sluggish recovery of the economy, we anticipate that the lingering bearish sentiments will remain in the near term as foreign investors continue to stay on the sidelines.”

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Meanwhile, profit taking and sell pressures persisted across most trading sessions last week as the ASI posted losses on two of the four trading days. Consequently, the NSE ASI declined 1.15 percent to settle at 29,740.41 points, while market capitalisation declined by N123.7 billion to close at N11.2 trillion.

Amid investors’ negative sentiments, most of the sectors closed in negative territory. The banking, insurance, consumer goods and industrial goods sectors declined by 0.09 percent, 0.90 percent, 2.58 percent and 0.71 percent to 385.87 points, 119.18 points, 673.00 points and 1,148.47 points respectively, while the oil/gas sector rose by 0.43 percent to 279.64 points.