Nigeria, June 8 -- Nigerian stocks depreciated last week, after a fragile recovery in the penultimate week, dropping by 3.1 per cent as sell pressure across the sectors, notably oil & gas and industrial goods, weighed on the main equity index.

The slide was perhaps a litmus test for Nigerian Exchange's introduction of a T+1 clearing and settlement cycle during the week, even though the appreciation the market recorded on Friday could be an indication that activities are back in a positive direction.

"We anticipate renewed bargain-hunting, particularly in fundamentally sound stocks and banking names that recently experienced price corrections," said analysts at Meristem Securities in their outlook for the week.

"But intermittent profit-...