Some capital market operators have expressed concern on the persistent lull at the Nigerian capital market, urging retail investors to take advantage of low prices of equities to increase their participation.
They told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Lagos that the lull was a reflection of the country’s economic challenges.
The operators urged investors to take advantage of the development and increase their stake in the market, ahead 2015 earnings rally.
Mallam Garba Kurfi, the Managing Director, APT Securities and Funds Ltd., said that equities were selling below their fair value, in spite of strong fundamentals.
“Equities are undervalued because of uncertainties in the economy and activities of profit takers,” he said.
Kurfi said that investors should take advantage of the development and increase their stake in the market in undervalued stocks with strong fundamentals.
He said that investors should not wait for earnings rebound before taking position in the market, to maximise profit.
The managing director said that investors should be very analytical and reasonable in stock market investment, and “should invest now before it will be too late.”
Ambrose Omordion, Chief Operating Officer, InvestData Ltd., said investors should position ahead of 2015 full year results, and increase their holdings in good companies with strong track record.
Omordion said the market would experience a rebound in the next couple of weeks, in anticipation of positive corporate results.
“Investors should take advantage of the low prices and falling macroeconomic indices to reposition in strong companies with strong prospects,” he said.
Omordion said that investors should seek opinions of experts before investing in the market to reduce risk, and must not invest with borrowed funds.
The NSE All-Share Index lost 414.28 points or 1.73 per cent to close at 23,501.87, against 23,915.15 achieved in the previous week, due to price depreciation.
Also, the market capitalization, which opened at N8.225 trillion lost N142 billion or 1.73 per cent to close at N8.083 trillion.
Glaxo SmithKline led the losers’ chart in percentage terms, dropping by 14.19 per cent or N3.83 to close at N23.16 per share.
Unilever trailed with a loss of 13.90 per cent or N4.90 to close at N30.34, while Unity Bank shed 12.00 per cent or 9k, to close at 66k per share.
On the other hand, International Breweries topped the gainers’ table in percentage terms, increasing by 27.81 per cent or N4.45 to close at N20.45 per share.
Seplat came second with a gain of 25.10 per cent or N48.75 to close at N243, while A.G. Leventis gained 8.70 per cent or 6k, to close at 75k per share.
Market transaction by volume and value of trades recorded an increase of 328 per cent and 33 per cent respectively, in contrast to last week’s closing levels.
NAN also reports that a turnover of 5.09 billion shares worth N18.49 billion were traded by investors in 16,711 deals last week.
This was against 1.13 billion shares valued N9.46 billion exchanged in 16,680 deals in the preceding week.
The Financial Services Industry led the activity chart with 4.89 billion shares worth N11.39 billion, transacted in 9,840 deals.
The Conglomerates sector followed with a turnover of 78.91 million shares worth N211.33 million, achieved in 604 deals.
The third place was occupied by the Industrial Goods Industry with a turnover of 38.92 million shares, valued N4.19 billion in 1,010 deals.
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