MARKET UPDATE FOR WEEK ENDED AUGUST 18 AND OUTLOOK FOR AUGUST 21-25, 2017
VOLATILITY STILL, AS PROFIT TAKING, FOR Q3, MONTH-END PORTFOLIO REBALANCING, ECONOMIC DATA Trading on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange last week was mixed, halting five consecutive weeks of bull-run to close lower on the strength of intense profit booking and portfolio rebalancing by market players in three straight days. So intense was the volatility and profit taking that the market did not react to the positive earnings from two first tier banks Zenith Bank and Guaranty Trust Bank, both of which had rallied since April after the Q2 numbers have been factored into their share prices. At the same time the market was under selling pressure until the last two trading days of the week when investors took advantage of the correction to reposition in interim dividend stocks that reversed the downward trend. Volume index on the local bourse for the week was 0.93, with buying position at 44% and 56% selling volume of the total transactions as mixed sentiment as the ma...