Negative sentiments persist at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) as selloffs in Dangote Cement and BUA Cement stocks bring the weekly loss to 0.69 per cent.
Specifically, the All-Share Index (ASI) declined by 0.69 per cent Week-on-Week (WoW) to close at 38,382.39 basis points, as a plunge in the stocks of Dangote Cement and BUA Cement by 6.42 per cent and 3.42 per cent respectively took a toll on the overall weekly performance.
Basically, the ASI lost 266.09 basis points during the week, from its opening level of 338,648.48bps, attributable to mixed sentiment and selloffs among the high cap stocks.
Also, market capitalisation fell by N139.22 billion to N20.08 trillion from the previous week’s N20.22 trillion.
Despite the persistent bearish returns, analysts expected a possible rebound. “It is expected that the market will rebound at any time soon, especially as more listed companies release their numbers to the market and trade above the 38,000bps level,” analysts at Invest Data said.
“The strong support level to watch out for on the NSE is within the 38,309.63bps and 38,000bps, and a breakdown of these levels will attract new positioning by traders. This is coming at a time crude oil is trading above $65 per barrel at the international market, while the distribution of vaccines is ongoing among the various state governments.
However, we envisage a mixed outlook for the rest of Q1, while not ruling out the ongoing profit-booking, especially after the market recorded an uptrend last year.
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“Our mixed outlook is hinged on factors like the possible impact of corporate earnings, mismatch of monetary and fiscal policies, in addition to the 2021 capital budget, implications of oil prices oscillating around $65 and $70 per barrel on the nation’s revenue, just as Money Flow Index and MACD are bearish on a weekly chart.”
Meanwhile, activity levels at the local bourse during the week under preview were mixed, as trading volumes rose by 44.7 per cent while value traded declined by 6.5 per cent.
The sectoral performance was also mixed as the Banking and Oil and Gas indices posted gains by respective 2.1 per cent and 1.6 per cent, while the Industrial Goods index and Consumer Goods recorded losses by 2.6 per cent and 1.5 per cent respectively. The Insurance, however, the index closed flat.
Selloffs of Cement stocks dip market to seventh WoW loss
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