The equity market last week traded for 3 days as the Federal Government declared Wednesday and Thursday as holiday to end the Ramadan Fasting. Trading activities closed on a positive note as the All Share Index and Market Capitalisation appreciated by 0.72% week on week to close at 39,481.89 points and N20.579 trillion respectively.
Year to date the market returned -1.96%, and there is every possibility of total recovery by the end of Second Quarter.
The Market Breadth closed positive week on week as 33 equities emerged on the gainers list while 19 equites declined in their share prices.
The Q1 earnings season has gone as most companies listed on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange have submitted their results; and a lot of analysis have been done. It is now for the market to reward those that merit reward and to discount those that need to be discounted.
We are already in May. All the results we saw were the results for March ending. In another one and half months, the Second Quarter will be over. All things being equal by middle of July, some of the Second Quarter results would have started trickling in to the market.
In the Nigerian market, one of the most important results are the Second Quarter results. Quite a number of companies will be coming to the market with interim dividend e.g Access Bank, Nigerian Breweries, Nestle, Guaranty Trust Bank, Zenith Bank and UBA.
What investors should do at this level is to begin to look at the possibilities in the second quarter reports particularly by the companies that will likely pay interim dividend.
So, it is not the time to sell. It is not the time to fold your arms and do nothing. It is the time to do a lot of research. A popular adage says ‘how the afternoon will look like; the morning will tell’. So, for those companies that will likely do well in their second quarter, just take a look at what they did in the First Quarter.