Market Commentary

They say, no matter how long the winter, spring is sure to follow. The question is how long will winter last this year? Globally as the week went on, U.S. economic data and a rally in a range of commodities moderated risk appetites, while traders were cautiously waiting for U.S. unemployment numbers. A series of economic reports seems to suggest that the US economy is not doing as badly as the market originally thought…On Friday, the Labour Department announced that the U.S. generated 242,000 new jobs in February, beating economists’ expectations of 198,000 new jobs. This is a likely negative read-across for African markets as this growth reinforces the case for the Federal Reserve to further push its tightening policy, which traditionally has prompted an outflow of investments from emerging markets. Well, despite everything, green was the dress code this week on African markets.

Positive sentiments filtered through the Nigerian bourse this week as the index gained 6.57% (w/w); The ZSE Industrial index shed 0.02 points (0.02%) to close at 98.80 points; The NSE-20, NSE-25 and NSE All Share Index garnered 48.99pts, 68.32pts and 1.75pts to close at 3,981.47, 4,241.03 and 146.96 respectively; The GSE Composite Index also gained 0.93 points to close at 1,970.85 representing a year-to-date loss of 0.11 %.

The Nigerian equity market's positive close was extended to the 5th trading session; The Nairobi All Share index gained 48.85pts, 51.04pts and 1.91pts to close at 3,932.86, 4,138.27 and 143.71 respectively; Ghana Stock Exchange bounced back after a five day losing streak;The ZSE Industrial index retreated 0.84 points (0.84%) to settle at 98.94 points...

The Nigerian bourse extended gains to the 4th trading session as the All Share Index (ASI) gained 1.1%; The GSE Composite Index gained 1.00 points to close at 1,982.13; The ZSE Industrial index gained a further 0.28 points (0.28%) to close at 99.78 points; The NSE-20 and NSE-25 gained 21.77pts and 0.33pts to close at 3,884.01 and 4,087.23 respectively...