Kayode Tokede
The Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) last week added N3.26 trillion, pushed by mixed resilient 2023 corporate earnings released to the investing public and the listing of Transcorp Power Plc on the Exchange.
The All-Share Index (ASI) posted an uptrend in performance by 2.61 per cent week-on-week (WoW) to close at 101,330.85 basis points from 98,751.98basis points.
Similarly, overall market capitalisation increased by N3.26 trillion to close at N57.293 trillion from N54.035 trillion the stock market opened for trading.
The sectoral performance for the week displayed weakness across most sectors, with the exception of the Industrial Goods index, which recorded a modest gain of 1.59 per cent week on week. Conversely, the NGX Insurance, NGX Banking, and NGX Consumer Goods indices experienced downturns, losing 5.22 per cent, 1.40 per cent and 1.21 per cent week on week respectively. The NGX Oil & Gas index remained unchanged from the previous week’s close.
The market breadth for the week was negative as 22 equities appreciated in price, 56 equities depreciated in price, while 76 equities remained unchanged. Transcorp Power led the gainers table by 46.38 per cent to close at N351.30, per share. Juli followed with a gain of 32.53 per cent to close at N4.97, while International Energy Insurance went up by 20.86 per cent to close to N1.68, per share.
On the other side, Guinness Nigeria led the decliners table by 17.55 per cent to close at N42.05, per share. Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) followed with a loss of 17.01 per cent to close at N20.00, while NEM Insurance declined by 16.67 per cent to close at N5.50, per share.
Overall, a total turnover of 2.157 billion shares worth N108.824 billion in 51,556 deals was traded last week by investors on the floor of the Exchange, in contrast to a total of 1.882 billion shares valued at N34.149 billion that exchanged hands prior week in 48,464 deals.
The Financial Services Industry (measured by volume) led the activity chart with 899.483 million shares valued at N15.778 billion traded in 20,278 deals; contributing 41.70 per cent and 14.50 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively. The Conglomerates Industry followed with 736.973 million shares worth N12.902 billion in 4,996 deals, while the Utilities Industry traded a turnover of 208.511 million shares worth N65.746 billion in 5,602 deals.
Trading in the top three equities; Transnational Corporation (Transcorp), Transcorp Power and United Bank for Africa (UBA) accounted for 1.056 billion shares worth N78.770 billion in 12,167 deals, contributing 48.97 per cent and 72.38 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
The Nigerian stock market is expected to sustain its bullish momentum this week as investors expect more companies to release their full-year 2023 audited accounts in the coming days.
The local equities market experienced a bullish run last week, noting a bullish trend despite a discernible shift by equity investors away from financial services stocks towards more appealing fixed income yields and amidst negative market breadth.
The resurgence of bullish activity is as a result of renewed positive sentiment, largely driven by heightened expectations among market participants, who eagerly digested various economic data and in anticipation of the upcoming Consumer Price Index (CPI) report and ongoing portfolio rebalancing activities.
Looking ahead this week, Cowry Assets Management Limited anticipated the prevailing bullish sentiment to persist in the market during the coming week.
“This expectation is based on the anticipation of more corporate announcements and continued portfolio rebalancing by investors seeking alpha. Nonetheless, we advise investors to remain vigilant in rebalancing their portfolios while carefully assessing Nigeria’s macroeconomic data. Meanwhile, we continue to advise investors on taking positions in stocks with sound fundamentals,” Cowry said.
Afrinvest Limited said: ‘this week, we expect the bourse to sustain the positive momentum as investors cherry-pick on stocks with attractive valuations.’