NSE closes 7-day trade bullish, adds N327bn

At the end of trading activities on Friday, major market indicators at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) depreciated with the All Share Index (ASI) dipping by 1.98 per cent and market capitalization going 2.09 per cent southward to close the week at 44,639.99 basis points and N16.019 trillion respectively.

According to the weekly report of the Nigerian Bourse, all indices finished higher during the week under review with the exception of the Main Board, Consumer Goods and Oil/Gas Indices that depreciated by 0.33 per cent, 3.33 per cent and 0.70 per cent respectively, while the NSE ASeM Index maintained status quo.

At the end of the seven-day trade, a total of 3.27 billion shares valued at N28.13 billion in 35,760 deals were traded in the week under review as compared to 7.16 billion shares valued at N42.54 billion in 39,037 deals traded in the preceding week.

Howbeit the decline at the end of first week in February, analyst still expected the market to respond more to fundamentals and improved economy conditions in the next trading week, even as investors awaits dividends.

“Whilst improving macroeconomic conditions and still-positive market fundamentals buoy our long term positive outlook for equities; investors taking position ahead of the earnings release season also suggest that legroom for short term gains still exist,” analyst at Cordros Capital said.

The Financial Services Industry, measured by volume, led the activity chart with 2.482 billion shares valued at N17.056 billion traded in 23,039 deals; thus contributing 75.96 per cent and 60.65 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively. The Conglomerates Industry followed with 375.113 million shares worth N1.047 billion in 1,968 deals. The third place was occupied by Consumer Goods Industry with a turnover of 262.198 million shares worth N6.843 billion in 5,921 deals.

Trading in the Top Three Equities were FCMB Group Plc, Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc, and Skye Bank Plc, measured by volume, as they accounted for 1.181 billion shares worth N2.830 billion in 5,219 deals, contributing 36.14 per cent and 10.06 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.

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