By Peter Egwuatu 

Mixed sentiments trailed the equity market last week as investors await the outcome of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting expected to review the current benchmark interest rate, the Monetary Policy Rate, MPR. The MPC kicked off in Abuja this morning and is scheduled to conclude tomorrow.

Meanwhile, details of last week’s equity market transactions showed positive performance, with the benchmark Nigerian Exchange  Limited, NGX All-Share Index (ASI) increasing by 87 basis points, bps Week-on-Week, WoW,  reaching 100,539.40 points. This reflects a Year-to-Date, YtD, growth of 34.46%. 

Furthermore, investors gained over N488 billion WoW as the NGX market capitalisation closed at N56.93 trillion from N56.4 trillion the previous week.

Both the volume and value of trades saw an upward trend, growing by 43.48% and 34.36% to 603.88 million units and N9.16 billion, respectively. 

FCMB, Jaiz Bank and UCAP were the top three stocks by volume, with 114.12 million units, 103.35 million units, and 56.76 million units traded.

On trade value, UCAP led with N2.29 billion in transactions, followed by Guaranty Trust Holding Company, GTCO with N1.70 billion, and with N1.10 billion.

Commenting on market outlook, analysts at Investdata Consulting  stated: “ We expect mixed sentiments and sector rotation to continue ahead of next week’s policy meeting outcome and interim dividend expectation on persisting low valuation. Portfolios repositioning is however continuing, as investors take advantage of pullbacks to buy into value.

This is amid the volatility and pullbacks that add more strength to upside potential. Consequently, investors should take advantage of price correction. Also looking at the trends and events across the globe and domestically.”

The analysts at Comercio Partners Research, stated: “We expect the positive trend to persist.”