Equities market prepares for a positive end year with +3.46% WoW

Equities trading on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) in the past week experienced a surge as the market capitalisation recorded a three-year high mid-week.

The equities market charged into the first week of the last month of the year 2017 on a laudable positive note to record a week-on-week gain of 3.46 per cent, bringing Year-to-Date (YtD) returns to 46.08 per cent.

A previous All Share Index close of 37,944.6 points closed higher at 39,257.53 per cent points, as did market capitalisation from N13.195 trillion to N13.652 trillion.

The week recorded positive trading sessions aside Friday’s negative close at 0.70 per cent.

Specifically, equities trading on Monday advanced by 0.08 per cent, Tuesday’s 1.37 per cent, Wednesday saw appreciation of 1.51 per cent while Thursday’s trading sessions recorded positive daily changes 1.17 per cent.

Given the drop in market activities on the final day of the week under review, transaction levels by volume and value both dropped by -95.50 per cent (WoW) and -76.05 per cent (WoW) respectively to close at 530 million shares  valued at N5.12 billion.

The drop can be ascribed to profit taking as investors raked in the gains experienced in the market.

“The expansion of equities market so far showed increasing investors’ confidence in the potential of the market,” said APT Securities.

“Going forward, with the betterment of the ease of doing business within the country, owed to efforts by both private and public sectors, we are of the expectation that the equities market will flourish if existing statutes are maintained and upgraded where necessary,” it said.