The recent week saw a roughly N140 billion decline in the NGX as market participants withdrew from some of their positions ahead of the announcement of earnings.
Cowry Asset Limited informed investors in a note that the local market had a mixed performance while the benchmark index suffered for the second consecutive week due to bargain hunting and portfolio repositioning.
The Nigerian Exchange reported that the all-share index fell by 0.35% week over week and finished at 99,671.28 points as a result of stockholders realigning their portfolios just as the earnings festival was about to pick up steam.
According to stockbrokers, investors lost N139.9 billion overall over three of the five trading sessions this week, resulting in an index return of 33.30% so far this year.
Trading activity ended on a mixed note in the market last week. The total traded volume was up by 22.4% week-on-week to 2.77 billion units, as was the total weekly traded value, which rose by 173.5% week-on-week to N85.23 billion.
The market breadth was relatively flat, with 38 weekly gainers compared to 39 weekly losers, according to the Nigerian Exchange report. Despite this, the total number of trades for the week decreased marginally by 4.80% week-on-week to 40,794 deals, Cowry Asset Limited told investors in a note.
Sectoral performance was weak, the banking leading the laggards due to losses in GTCO and UBA. The index was followed by insurance and consumer goods sectors, which declined by 0.36% and 0.09% week-on-week on the back of negative price movement in SOVRENINS, CHIPLC, PZ CUSSONS, and TANTALIZER.
Conversely, the Oil & Gas and NGX Industrial indices reported gains of 1.38% and 0.05% week-on-week as ETERNA, COINOIL, LAFARGE and UPDCREIT rallied. Top performers include LIVESTOCK (+27%), VERITASKAP (+25%), ABCTRANS (+20%), ETERNA (+18%), and VITAFOAM (+8%).
These stock emerged as the best-performing securities due to positive activities that propelled their price movements, according to stockbrokers at Cowry Asset Limited. It was noted that negative investor sentiment led to sell-offs in AFRIPRUD (-18%), PZ (-10%), THOMASWY (-10%), CWG (-10%), and TANTALIZER (-10%);
In its note, Cowry Research thinks market momentum is expected to continue with ongoing bargain hunting and portfolio adjustments in anticipation of the June Consumer Price Index and half-year corporate earnings reports.
“These upcoming economic indicators are likely to influence investor decisions and market trends in the face of weak sentiments”. Overall, the equities market capitalization of the Nigerian Exchange dropped by N139.9 billion to N56.44 trillion on Friday in the market.
