By Dipo Olowookere
For the past weeks now, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has witnessed the dominance of bears at the market with new 52-week lows recorded.
The situation at the stock market has been very discouraging to investors, who are very worried at the rate the local bourse was bleeding.
Last week, the equities market depreciated by 4.59 percent, the heaviest this year, registering 14 price gainers and 55 price losers.
However, observers and analysts are predicting that things will get better this week as investors are expected to take advantage of low prices of stocks to add more equities to their holdings.
For example, those at Morgan Capital “expect the bullish sentiment to dominate trading session [this] week as most fundamentally sound counters are now closer to the their 52-week low prices.”
Also giving their projection for the week, analysts at Cowry Asset said, “In the new week, we expect the Nigerian equities market to close in positive territory as investors continue to take advantage of the low share prices of most companies that have posted positive financial results and increased dividend payout.”
Echoing the views above, those at United Capital Research said, “Looking ahead, the current bearish theme creates bargain opportunities for investors as most tickers are trading significantly below their intrinsic value.
“However, a tepid performance could remain in the absence of events that could galvanize investors sentiment.”
Business Post analysts expect the market to witness a Royal Rumble between the bulls and the bears this week. However, the bulls will have a slight upper hand at the end of the week. We believe that the present situation gives investors the opportunity to re-enter into the market and take position for the future rise in prices of stock.
But those at Meristem are of the opinion that “selloffs [will] continue in the coming weeks after investors exit the market, post dividend qualification dates.”
