The Nigerian equities market is expected to remain range-bound in the near term as investors continue to tread carefully amid ongoing profit-taking and soft trading activity. Despite last week’s decline, analysts suggest that downside risks remain relatively contained, particularly for stocks with strong fundamentals and attractive dividends.
Year-to-date, the market has delivered a 6.36% return, indicating resilience even as trading activity slows. Cowry Assets Management Limited noted that while recent pullbacks have tempered gains from earlier in the year, fundamentally strong and dividend-paying stocks could offer some stability for investors navigating the current market environment.
Investor caution is expected to persist, with market participants focusing on selective bargain hunting. Futureview Group emphasized that trading will likely center on fundamentally sound stocks with appealing valuations, reflecting a more measured and risk-conscious approach to the market.
Last week, the NGX All-Share Index (ASI) recorded a week-on-week decline of 0.39% to close at 165,512.18 points, marking the first negative weekly performance of the year. While overall market breadth remained positive, with 57 advancing stocks outnumbering 40 decliners, top gainers included DEAP Capital Management & Trust, SCOA Nigeria, and NCR Nigeria, while notable decliners were Eterna, Secure Electronic Technology, and Industrial & Medical Gases Nigeria.
Trading activity showed a total turnover of 3.748 billion shares valued at N99.865 billion across 237,179 deals. The Financial Services Industry led the chart with 1.742 billion shares worth N44.893 billion traded, followed by the Services and ICT industries. Secure Electronic Technology, Tantalizers, and Access Holdings accounted for nearly 20% of total equity turnover, highlighting continued investor interest in high-volume blue-chip stocks.
source: vanguard