Equities market records 2nd week gain amidst cautious trading

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7 years ago

The Nigerian equities markets at the end of last week recorded gains as returns in the domestic bourse remained positive for the second consecutive week, with the All Share Index rising to 1.19 per cent (week on week) to 32,841.69 points, amidst a week of mixed trading.

This positive trend is coming just as more companies submit their third quarter financial result, as the Month-to-Date return closed positive at 0.23 per cent, while Year-to-Date loss moderated to 14.12 per cent.

Three of the five sessions closed positive, with trading in the high cap shares of Dangote Cement mostly swaying the market’s direction. Corporate releases mostly by the tier 1 banks were mixed, while WAPCO’s performance was unsurprisingly disappointing.

A total turnover of 1.380 billion shares worth N15.149 billion in 13,478 deals were traded during the week by investors on the floor of the Exchange in contrast to the penultimate week where a total of 915.856 million shares valued at N9.835 billion that exchanged hands in 14,033 deals.

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The Financial Services Industry (measured by volume) led the activity chart with 1.237 billion shares valued at N9.725 billion traded in 7,404 deals; thus contributing 89.62 per cent and 64.19 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.

The Consumer Goods Industry followed with 62.505 million shares worth N1.689 billion in 2,560 deals. The third place was Oil and Gas industry with a turnover of 26.341 million shares worth 2.447 billion in 1,213 deals.

Trading in the Top Three Equities were Sunu Assurances Nigeria Plc, Zenith Bank Plc and Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, (measured by volume) which accounted for 772.902 million shares worth N7.841 billion in 2,050 deals, contributing 55.99 per cent and 51.76 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.

However, analysts at Cordros Capital’s outlook for equities in the short to medium term remained conservative, amidst brewing political concerns, and the absence of a one-off positive trigger. “However, stable macroeconomic fundamentals remain supportive of recovery in the long term,” they posited.