Nigeria’s equities market decreased by 1.99 percent in the month of March as Friday March 28 becomes the last trading session of the month ahead of public holidays.
The market rose by 0.67 percent as investors booked N438 billion gain in the trading week ended March 28. The week saw three days of positive closes as against two days of negatives.
This year’s positive return increased to +2.67 percent as at Friday March 28.
“Given the market’s unpredictable movement in recent sessions, we expect investors to shift focus towards defensive stocks, seeking stability amid the volatility,” said analysts at Vetiva Research in their March 27 note.
Ahead of Friday’s trading being the last trading session of the first quarter (Q1), they expected the activities of asset managers to also influence market direction.
The Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) All-Share Index (ASI) and equities market capitalisation which started the week at 104,962.96 points and N65.819trillion rose to 105,660.64 points and N66.257trillion.
In the review week, oil & gas stocks were mostly on offer while industrial, banking, insurance and consumer goods stocks were on demand at the NGX.
(Business Day)
