By Chinwendu Obienyi
Nigeria’s stock market is expected to resume today’s trading activity on a positive note after the two-day national holiday in commemoration of the Eid-ul-Adha (Salah) celebration for Muslim faithful.
This is as analysts said the market would have a feel of positive sentiments on the back of liquidity as well as half-year (H1 2021) earnings with securities traders predicting increased volatility in stock performances in the market this week.
As at last Monday, stock prices rallied in the green zone with 22 stocks which in turn lifted transactions on the equities sector of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) taking market capitalisation higher by N3 billion. On the other hand, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 5.47 absolute points, representing a gain of 0.01 per cent, to close at 37,952.65 points while market capitalisation closed at N19.774 trillion.
Analysts who spoke to Daily Sun, said they expect traders to have a positive outing on Thursday ahead of the half-year (H1) earnings season.Dealers at Afrinvest said, “We expect the market to resume trading post-sallah holidays on a positive note, to be driven by high system liquidity and positive earnings expectation.
For their part, analysts at United Capital Plc said: “In a shortened trading week, we anticipate a tight trading week barring major surprises in earnings scorecard of large-cap counters.”
Meanwhile, Monday’s trading session saw 22 stocks recording gains, relative to 10 losers. Eterna recorded the highest price gain of 10 per cent to close at N7.15, per share, University Press followed with a gain 9.93 per cent to close at N1.55 kobo, Cutix moved by 9.92 per cent to close at N3.99 kobo, Regency Alliance Insurance gained 8.89 per cent to close at 49 kobo while Learn Africa got 8.76 per cent to close at N1.49 kobo.
On the other hand, FTN Cocoa Processors led the losers’ chart by 7.32 per cent to close at 38 kobo, per share.
Sovereign Trust Insurance followed with a decline of 6.06 per cent to close at 31 kobo, while Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) lost 3.77 per cent to close at N5.10 kobo.
Similarly, Sterling Bank lost 3.21 per cent to close at N1.51, while Union Bank of Nigeria (UBN) shed 2.68 per cent to close at N5.45 kobo.