… as all eyes 1st Cardoso MPC meeting holding today

By Peter Egwuatu  

The positive trend persisted for the third consecutive week in the Nigerian stock market, with investors showing interest in highly capitalised stocks.

Meanwhile, financial analysts have noted that while investors continued to digest the last inflation data showing further uptick in inflation, all eyes are focused on expected third quarter, Q3, Gross Domestic Product, GDP, figures as well as the outcome of the first Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Monetary Policy Committee, MPC, meeting under the new leadership of Yemi Cardoso, which starts today and ends with major decision tomorrow.

The decision would give insight into the flow of funds and market direction for the next few months.

The analysis of the market last week showed that gains from  MTN Nigeria by 2.9%,  SEPLAT 7.4% and Airtel Africa  1.1%  propelled  the Nigerian Exchange Limited, NGX, All-Share Index, ASI to a 0.4%  Week on Week W/W increase to close at 71,112.99 points from 70,849.38 points the previous week.

In the same vein, another stock market gauge, the NGX market capitalisation added over N182 billion to close at N39.107 trillion from N38.925 trillion.

Consequently, the Month-to-Date, MtD and Year-to-Date, YtD returns rose to +0.4% and +38.8%, respectively. Commenting on market outlook, analysts at Cordros Research stated: ” We believe investors will closely monitor the results of the upcoming MPC meeting next week to gain further clarity on the movement of yields in the Fixed Income, (FI) market. As a result, we anticipate cautious trading on the local bourse. Overall, we advise investors to take positions in only fundamentally justified stocks as the weak macro story remains a significant headwind for corporate earnings.”

Commenting as well on market outlook, analysts at Investdata Consulting Limited, said:”We expect mixed sentiment to continue as market players target dividend paying stocks and others, in the midst of profit taking and portfolio rebalancing on the strength of the better-than-expected corporate numbers released and high yields. As 2024 is setting up with dividend season ahead.

Meanwhile, all eyes are on the fiscal and monetary authorities to give direction of the government reforms and policies so far.”