Equities investors earn N285.4bn in 5 days amid buying interest

Trading activities at the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), last week ended in the green for the key performance index which inched up 1.19 per cent week on week to 44,492.73 basis points.

The positive week was due to renewed investors’ sentiment and positive buying interest in some value stocks that had suffered losses in recent time.

Precisely, bargain buying in Guaranty Trust Holding Company, Nigerian Breweries, Stanbic IBTC, Zenith Bank and MTN Nigeria stocks drove the weekly gain.

Based on the preceding, the Month-to-Date (MTD) and Year-to-Date (MTD) returns increased to +1.5 per cent and +4.2 per cent, respectively.

Equities investors at the local bourse, therefore, earned N285.4 billion during the week under review, as the upbeat momentum pushed the market capitalization to N24.23 trillion.

The sectorial performance was largely mixed in the week with three out of five sectors closing the week in the bullish region. Thus, for the NGX Banking Index, it emerged top of the gainers’ list for the week having appreciated by 4.3 per cent and trailed by NGX Insurance and Consumer goods index week on week. On the other hand, sell -offs in the NGX Oil & gas and NGX Industrial Goods week on week dragged the performance of the sectors southward.

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However, activity levels were weak, as trading volume and value declined by 37.6 per cent Week-on Week (WoW) and 26.2 per cent, respectively.

A total turnover of 694.376 million shares worth N8.667 billion in 15,418 deals was traded this week by investors on the floor of the Exchange, in contrast to a total of 1.101 billion shares valued at N11.714 billion that exchanged hands in 15,697 deals in the preceding week.

The Financial Services Industry, measured by volume, led the activity chart with 487.150 million shares valued at N4.229 billion traded in 7,527 deals; thus contributing 70.16 per cent and 48.80 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively. The Conglomerates Industry followed with 61.896 million shares worth N77.471 million in 396 deals. The third place was the Consumer Goods Industry, with a turnover of 40.042 million shares worth N1.243 billion in 2,713 deals.

Trading in the top three equities namely Access Holdings Plc, Transnational Corporation Plc and Fidelity Bank Plc, measured by volume, accounted for 232.923 million shares worth N1.237 billion in 1,316 deals, contributing 33.54 per cent and 14.27 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
Going into the new week, analysts expect the market to trade with mixed sentiments as the digestion of the current inflation numbers put investors in position for next move in the market as they await judgment from the MPC meeting next week.

“Though, we expect a 25bps rate hike in a bid to quell elevating inflationary pressure. However, we continue to advise investors to trade on companies’ stocks with sound fundamentals and a positive outlook amid the macro-dynamics which remains a headwind,” Cowry Analyst noted.