Equities investors earn N279bn in five days

Positive sentiments persist at the Nigerian equities market as the bourse records second weekly gains.

Despite starting the week kicked on a sluggish note, bargain hunting activities gained steam on the penultimate and last trading days as investors cherry-picked stocks following decent Q1-21 corporate earnings releases to earn N279 billion.

Last week, the All-Share Index and market capitalisation of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) appreciated by 1.36 per cent to close the week at 39,834.42 basis points and N20.847 trillion respectively; as against 39,301.82 basis points and N20.568 trillion of the penultimate week.

Consequently, the Year-to-Date (YtD) loss moderated to -1.1 per cent.

During the week under review, bargain hunting in large-cap stocks drove the gain as Seplat, BUA Cement, Nigerian Breweries, Dangote Cement and MTN Nigeria appreciated 7.5 per cent, 7.2 per cent, 7.0 per cent, 6.4 per cent and 6.0 per cent respectively.

Sectoral performance was broadly positive as the Banking index emerged as the week’s sole decliner. The Insurance index led the gainers’ chart, followed by Industrial Goods and Oil and Gas indices. The Consumer Goods index closed flat.

However, activity levels were weaker than the prior week, as trading volumes and value declined by 13.3 per cent w/w and 75.1 per cent w/w, respectively.

Specifically, a total turnover of 1.441 billion shares worth N10.883 billion in 19,614 deals were traded by investors on the floor of the Exchange, in contrast to a total of 1.602 billion shares valued at N42.142 billion that exchanged hands in 19,507 deals in the penultimate week.

The Financial Services Industry, measured by volume, led the activity chart with 970.560 million shares valued at N6.779 billion traded in 10,876 deals; thus contributing 67.36 per cent and 62.30 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.

The Conglomerates Industry followed with 234.966 million shares worth N387.565 million in 1,320 deals. The third place was Consumer Goods Industry, with a turnover of 61.614 million shares worth N974.254 million in 2,818 deals.

FBN Holdings Plc, Transnational Corporation Of Nigeria Plc and Access Bank Plc made the top traded equities, measured by volume. They accounted for 603.939 million shares worth N2.963 billion in 3,618 deals, thus contributing 41.91 per cent and 27.23 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.

Despite the positive sentiments at the Excavation, analysts believe that the bears would look to take advantage of the two-week gains in cashing out given improving yields in the FI market, thereby advising investors to take positions in only fundamentally justified stocks as the weak macro story remains a significant headwind for corporate earnings.

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The 624 new cases reported between March 28 and April 3 is a reduction from the 849 recorded the previous week…Equities investors earn N279bn in five days

Equities investors earn N279bn in five days