Invest Data Consulting Ltd

VOLATILITY RAGES AS SMART INVESTORS ENHANCE POSITIONS IN SELECTED STOCKS The nation’s stock market had a generally mixed session on Tuesday. The day started out on a front and back movement of the index before selloff ensued as a result of profit booking by short-term traders that halted four trading sessions of bull-run. This profit taking is normal and should be expected in a recovering market especially when traders had recorded capital gains.   Volatility mode in the market continued ahead of more Q3 corporate earnings being released to the market in trickles, just many have announced their closed period and released board meeting notifications. The market recorded intraday high of 36,846.77 which is becoming the new resistance level, while the day’s low was 36,747.68 points before closing the day marginally lower on a high volume. The new support level for the day was 36,747.68 as market breadth close flat.  Market momentum for the day turned weak wi...

For the past several months, Nigeria’s fourth largest GSM provider- Emerging Market Telecommunictions Services Limited (EMTS), otherwise known as Etisalat, has been in the news. This time, it is for the wrong reason. The company has been in and out of meeting rooms with its bankers to resolve issues around a $1.3bn or N541.8bn debt to 13 Nigerian banks, which arose from a 2013 facility to refinance existing loans ($650m), while the balance was for provision of working capital and network expansion. Following the failure to resolve the matter amicably after several meetings that involved the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the National Communications Commission, regulators of the nation’s banking and telecoms industries respectively, in a bid to restructure, the loan is as good as bad and doubtful. The banks must therefore provide for the loan, with unpleasant implications for their books at the end of 2017 financials, following which they are required to make provision...

NIGERIA: IMPROVING ECONOMIC FUNDAMENTALS KEEP INVESTORS CALM, DESPITE FISCAL SLOPPINESS Nigeria’s equity market on Wednesday resisted further decline as investors repositioning increased to retrace up from the previous day pullback on a high volume of trades as revealed by volume index of 1.14 with a buying position of 100%, while selling volume was 0% of the day’s total transactions. This up and down movement in the market is normal in any recovering market, but the investing public should understand how to invest in different market cycles, as well as know characteristics of the bear and bull market at any time to successfully manage risk and invest profitably. Despite the oscillating price of oil in the international market, Nigeria’s improving daily production output is a plus for its economy as this will boost government revenue to fund the budget, despite the delay in signing of the 2017 Appropriation Bill into law. With some companies releasing their closed perio...

MARKET UPDATE FOR JUNE 6 Market sentiments among the investing public on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange were mixed on Tuesday as trading closed in the red to halt eight straight trading sessions of bull-run, a situation attributed to profit booking by players after many equity prices had hit new highs repeatedly in the recent rally. The pullback was on a huge volume as revealed by volume index of 1.75 with a buying position of 29%, while selling volume was 71% of the day’s total transactions. As mentioned in INVESTDATA’s update for Monday that pullback was imminent on Tuesday, despite the up market on the first trading day of the week, because pullback or profit-taking is an essential part of stock market fundamentals which is also a characteristic of a recovering market. The correction phrase of the market is not expected to last for too long, especially considering the ongoing economic recovery and improving business environment.The recent Purchasing Mana...

The nation’s equity market is again in a dicey situation that calls for cautious trading, as the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) composite All Share Index broke-out the 2016 strong resistant level of 31,071.25 basis points on a huge volume of trade to attain a new 52-week high of 31,371.63,reflecting the strong demand for stocks. This has expectedly pushed some equity prices above their 52-week, two, three, four years and even five-year highs to reveal the level momentum currently running in the market. From the above graph, you would discover that the index had formed a cup that not only supports, but confirms a reversal from the previous down trend the market experienced before now to this uptrend that shows recovery after three years of down markets. A breakout of the rising channel will take the market to psychological line of 33,000 before pullback, despite the expected time to time profit taking. As the week’s trading activities ended on Friday, we observed s...

As the month of May ended last week, volume of trades was significantly up, reflecting the inflow from other investment windows to the equity market in search of juicier returns, as demand for stocks increased against the backdrop of factors such as the improving economic data, liquidity in the forex market and others like the market being in recovery mode, all of which pushed the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) benchmark All-Share index to its 52-week high. There was also the last Purchasing Managers Index (PMI), which dropped to 54% from 58% at the end of April, signaling a reduced but yet high productivity level in the real/manufacturing sector, added to the gradual decline in inflation rate, relative stability in the exchange rate and the 0.52% negative growth in the nation’s Q1 2017 GDP to -0.52%, a sign that its economy is gradually going out of recession, among others. However, the ongoing political drama delaying the signing of the 2017 budget into law, weeks aft...

MARKET UPDATE FOR JUNE 1, 2017 The first trading day of June started off with a big gap up that was successfully sustained till the end of the day on a high volume of trades to continue the market supply bang experienced in May with positive sentiments pushed equity prices high.  INVESTDATA RESEARCH notes that in the last four years, the month of June had experienced mixed performance, twice (2014 and 2016) recording up market that surpassed the performance in May. On the strength of factors that had driven the market to this level and are still intact ahead of the earnings season for March year-end and Q2 earnings reporting season, there are indication that June may outperform the month of May as earnings is around the corner. Also important a factor that would drive the market this month is the continued intervention by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in the foreign exchange market in its bid to stabilize and thereafter stabilize the Naira against majo...