Equities trading at the Nigerian Exchange Limited was broadly positive last week, with the bulls dominating in four of the five trading days.
Consequently, the All-Share Index edged up by 1.23 per cent Week-on-Week (WoW) to close at 38,726.10 basis points.
Investors, over the five-day trade, earned N245 billion as the market capitalization appreciated to close the week at N20.185 trillion as against an opening of N19.940 trillion.
Notably, bargain hunting in Dangote Cement, BUA Cement, MTN Nigeria and Guaranty Trust Bank lifted market performance as their stocks appreciated by 3.5 per cent, 2.8 per cent, 2.6 per cent and 2.3 per cent respectively.
As a result of the bullish weekly outing, the Month-to-Date (MtD) return turned positive 0.7 per cent, while the Year-to-Date (YTD) loss moderated to -3.8 per cent.
During the week under review, performance across sectors was mixed, with the Industrial and Insurance indices recording gains by 2.6 per cent and 1.2 per cent respectively, while the Consumer Goods and Oil and Gas indices closed in the red by -0.4 per cent and 0.8 per cent. The Banking index, however, closed flat.
Also, the overall activity level was relatively stronger, as trading volume and value rose by 4.3 per cent and 0.8 per cent, respectively.
Specifically, a total turnover of 1.082 billion shares worth N9.548 billion in 17,933 deals were traded at the floor of the Exchange, in contrast to a total of 1.037 billion shares valued at N9.471 billion that exchanged hands last week in 17,577 deals.
The Financial Services Industry, measured by volume, led the activity chart with 767.001 million shares valued at N4.356 billion traded in 9,447 deals; thus contributing 70.86 per cent and 45.63 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
The Oil and Gas Industry followed with 83.528 million shares worth N1.454 billion in 1,118 deals. The third place was Conglomerates Industry, with a turnover of 72.813 million shares worth N356.723 million in 781 deals.
Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc, Zenith Bank Plc and Veritas Kapital Assurance Plc made the top three equities traded at the loc bourse over the week. They accounted for 235.953 million shares worth N1.820 billion in 1,654 deals, contributing 21.8 per cent and 19.07 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
Looking ahead, analysts expect stock market performance to be dominated by the bulls in the coming weeks as investors positioned in dividend-paying stocks ahead of H1-2021 dividend declarations, which should outweigh profit-taking activities.
Analysts at Cordros Capital, therefore reiterate the need for positioning in only fundamentally sound stocks as the weak macro environment remained a significant headwind for corporate earnings.
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