Investment researchers at Bancorp Securities Limited, one of the leading investment and stockbroking consulting firms in Nigeria, have projected that the nation’s bourse will remain under pressure during its trading sessions this week and largely driven by company-specific developments.
The experts, in the firm’s ‘Weekly Stock Recommendation 19th-23rd October 2026’ circulated to our correspondent on Monday, hinged their forecast on the prevailing micro and macroeconomic factors in the nation’s investment market, particularly on the bearish sentiments in the equities market over the past three weeks.
This week, they anticipated that investors would focus on third quarter (Q3) earnings releases, especially within the Banking sector, following the recent revision of the outlook to Positive by a leading rating agency – Fitch Ratings.
The analysts projected: “We expect the Nigerian equities market to remain under pressure in the coming week, following three consecutive weeks of losses and a significant decline in trading activity. Although market breadth improved to 1.67x from 0.44x, the 38.91% decline in trading volume suggests that buying interest remains insufficient to support a sustained market recovery.
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“However, we expect investors to increasingly focus on Q3 earnings releases, particularly within the Banking sector, where Fitch Ratings’ recent revision of several banks’ credit outlooks to Positive could provide some support for investor confidence. September’s moderation in inflation to 14.63% also strengthens expectations of further monetary easing, although elevated fixed-income yields may continue to compete with equities for investment flows.
“Overall, we expect the market to remain largely driven by company-specific developments, with earnings performance and valuations determining investor positioning”, the experts added.
In their recap of the performance of the economy last week, the researchers recalled that Nigeria’s macroeconomic developments during the week were dominated by a further moderation in inflation, stronger foreign exchange reserves and an improvement in crude oil production.
They reported that the nation’s headline inflation declined to 14.63% in September from 15.39% in August, reflecting slower price increases, while its foreign exchange reserves reached approximately US$55.10 billion, strengthening the country’s external buffers.
In addition, the analysts noted that similarly, Nigeria’s crude oil production increased to 1.53 million barrels per day in September from 1.50 million barrels per day in August, marking the fifth consecutive month Nigeria met or exceeded its OPEC production quota.
Specifically, on the equities market, the experts observed that the local bourse extended its decline for a third consecutive week, as the NGX All-Share Index declined by 0.33% week-on-week to 247,539.73 points, moderating the market’s YTD return to 59.07%, while market capitalisation declined by 0.33% to N160.73 trillion, representing a loss of approximately N534.77 billion in market value.
