Investors Adopt Cautious Approach As Equities Market Volatility Looms

Capital market analysts have predicted that investors will prioritise fundamentally strong stocks with attractive valuations, adopting a cautious trading approach in the current market environment.

Looking ahead into the new week, Cowry Assets Management Limited said “the market is expected to trade with a mildly positive but cautious bias in the near term, as investors continue to rotate into fundamentally strong and liquid names. While the recent uptick in the index reflects resilience, the weak market breadth and softer trading activity highlight a lack of broad conviction, suggesting that the rally remains narrowly driven.”

The firm noted that “as corporates publish their audited full year 2025 numbers and head into the start of the dividend earning season, we anticipate mildly upbeat sentiments in some tickers on the back of attractive dividend yields and positive internals.

“We anticipate the market to remain range-bound with pockets of opportunities, as investors adopt a more selective and defensive approach in the absence of strong market-wide catalysts. Meanwhile, we continue to advise investors to take positions in fundamentally sound stocks.”

Imperial Asset Managers Limited stated that “we expect the cautious and defensive tone to persist in the near term, as the market continues to navigate the current macroeconomic environment, dividend declarations for the full year 2025 and external noises. With the above guidelines, the market is expected to remain range-bound with pockets of opportunities, as investors adopt a more selective and defensive approach in the absence of strong market-wide catalysts.”

The local equities market ended last week on a bullish note. The market opened for four trading days, as the federal government declared Friday, April 3, and Monday, April 6 2026, as public holidays to commemorate Easter.

The benchmark NGX All Share Index ASI edged up by 0.39 per cent week on week to close at 201,698.89 points on the back of positive sentiments following the publication of audited financial scorecards of corporates and the kickstart of the earnings season. Market capitalisation also increased by N837 billion to close the week at N129.806 trillion, mainly driven by the additional listing of 21.183 billion ordinary shares from FCMB Group and 5.07 billion ordinary shares from VFD Group.

However, market breadth was negative as 29 stocks gained while 57 declined, indicating that despite the overall market growth more stocks recorded losses during the week, reflecting weak breadth. Multiverse Mining and Exploration led the gainers table by 20.66 per cent to close at N20.15 per share. UPDC Real Estate Investment Trust followed with a gain of 15.49 per cent to close at N8.20, while International Energy Insurance rose by 12.54 per cent to close at N3.32 per share.

On the other side, Secure Electronic Technology led the decliners table by 21.54 per cent to close at N1.02 per share. John Holt followed with a loss of 18.47 per cent to close at N15.45, while May and Baker Nigeria declined by 16.57 per cent to close at N35.00 per share.

Overall, a total turnover of 2.856 billion shares worth N113.597 billion in 215,287 deals was traded last week by investors on the floor of the Exchange, in contrast to a total of 3.950 billion shares valued at N201.312 billion that exchanged hands in the previous week in 359,642 deals.