Akinyemi said, “Uptick in interest rates is however anticipated in second quarter, resulting from a reduced level of liquidity and huge budget deficit. We expect the market to commence this year with some depression in yield, owing to expected liquidity elevation in first quarter.”
Generally, the investment expert noted that the market was expected to be largely driven by political transitioning, oil price fluctuations, trade wars, possibility of interest rate hikes by other economies and risk off/on sentiments. According to her, the Monetary Policy Rate was likely to increase and credit conditions may remain tight in Q1-23.Akinyemi recalled that after the Q2-2022 selloffs triggered by higher interest rate in the fixed income market, the Nigerian stock market was volatile with many stocks trading at substantial discounts and delivering greater dividend yields than fixed income space.
As such, the stock market created a massive opportunity for bargain hunting from mid Q2 to Q4 2022, pushing the 2022 year-to- return to 19.98 per cent, she said. On a positive note, she said there was improved growth level as the economy began to recover from the impact of the pandemic.All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH.