The extended public holiday declared by the Federal Government would have a major impact on the stock market following expected marginal southward movement in the benchmark index Stock market analysts have predicted.
According to analysts from APT Securities and Funds Limited, ‘‘we see a possibility of a sustained downward momentum in the next trading session as market breadth remains largely negative.’’
Also, analysts at Heritage Capital said that banking stocks will likely suffer decline due to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) taking over of the Board and management of Skye Bank Plc after the lender failed to meet the regulator’s minimum key liquidity and capital adequacy ratios. “We foresee investors taking caution while playing other banking stocks.
Other financial institutions that may receive harsh treatment from investors are FBN Holdings, Fidelity Bank, FCMB and Diamond Bank. We maintained that expected earnings remain the major trend pointer through the new month,” said the analysts.
Last week, a total of 1.469 billion shares worth N17.07 billion in 21,246 deals were traded on the stock market. Only 142.84 million shares worth N1.35 billion have been traded this week on Monday.
According to analysts, closing the market for three days out of a 5-working day would bring a significant volume of money that has not exchanged hands.
