Starting up the week, equities trading on the floor of The Nigerian Stock Exchange recorded another outing with the bear; as the lead performance pointer, NSEASI gave up 31Bpts of its trading points and closed at 31,042.32 from 31,139.35. All observed market indices rounded up in the negative territory as shown in the index movement table. Thus, the total lost point in the month of March had increased to 214Bpts. See the index movement table for details.
Value loss by the market capitalization of the listed equities during today’s trading activities was N36.185 billion, same as 31Bpts below the opening value. Meanwhile, trading activities for the day produced 12 ADVANCERS and 19 LAGERS. NSEASI Year to Date loss is now 124Bpts while the Market Capitalization Year to Date loss stood at N144.556 billion same as 123Bpts below the year’s opening value.
As noted in our previous reports, market already gave up almost all the points gained during the electioneering period. Further compounding the bearish state of the market; The Nigerian Stock Exchange in its foreign portfolio investment report, noted that foreign outflows from the stock market increased by 97.8% from 27.81 billion in January to N55.01 billion in February. Please note also, that, Investors currently await the outcome of the Monetary Policy Meeting that commenced today 25th March, 2019 and will be concluded tomorrow 26th March, 2019. On the strength of the above points, we recommend a cautious play around the market, even as investors consider positions against expected earnings.
As at the time we compiled this report, Brent Crude trades at $67.26/bbl having gained 0.23% to stand above the last close price.
At the interbank rate today, the Naira closed at N306.95 against the dollar, this is 2Bpts loss when compared with Friday’s close. See below table for BDC rates by four major locations within the country. Meanwhile, the I&E FX Window started from N360.68 traded as high as N361.50 before rounding up at N360.39, having transacted a total of $231.34 million through the day. Please note that, margin between the close and open value is an equivalent of 1Bpts gain. We are of the opinion that the FX-Market will trade within same range tomorrow.
In the money market, the Overnight (O/N) rate closed at 24.43%, same as 9.60% above the previous closing position. Meanwhile, Open Buy-Back (OBB) rate ended at 22.43%, that is, 8.18% above the previous close. We are of the opinion that the money market will maintain this range on the next business day. Safe Trade.
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