Stretching further in a sideway trend, equities trading on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange ended in the negative territory, as the lead performance pointer, NSEASI gave up 3Bpts from its trading points, and closed at 39,449.82 from 39,460.68. Safe NSE-Industrial Goods Index that ended on a flat note; all observed market indices in this report ended in the negative path. Thus, WtD, the lead index is 3Bpts below opening, while the total gained points in the month of August is now 234Bpts. See the index movement table for details.

Sentiments around the market remained down, as more traders sat on the fence, expecting major news on listed equities, and the release of the Half year GDP figures, which is expected to be released on the 26th August. The fact that the half year earnings season has really wound up, (safe the few banking stocks expected to pay interim dividend), is another factor causing low activities in the stock market. Please understand that, among the upcoming market events within the month is the adjustment of few listed equities that recently declared dividends (interim/final). In our opinion, the market is still very much in an uptrend, at least leading from July 2021, though it is 2.04% below the opening for the year. We foresee the lead index, overcoming the on-going efforts against the bear, and predict its continuation through the positive path. Nevertheless, we signalled cautious play around the market arena.

The total value loss by the Market Capitalization of the listed equities during today’s trading activities was N5.661 billion, same as 3Bpts below the opening value. Meanwhile, trading activities for the day produced 17 ADVANCERS and 19 LAGERS. NGXASI Year to Date loss is now 204Bpts while the Market Capitalization Year to Date loss stood at N502.830 billion same as 239Bpts below the year’s opening value.

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