Investors in the equities market saw no reprieve last week as their net worth dropped by N785bn. This was the Nigerian Exchange’s fourth week in a row of negative trade in April.
There have been pockets of sell-offs and profit-booking at certain blue-chip businesses notwithstanding the apparent changes in stock prices. The All-Share Index closed at 98,152.91 points, below the critical 100,000 barrier for the second week in a row, taking another hammering of 1.39 percent week over week.
This came about as a result of investors sticking to their strategy of avoiding equities despite the positive outlook for risk-free markets due to their unfavorable market emotions following sell-offs.
Furthermore, the market capitalisation also closed in the red zone in all sessions witnessed last week by 1.39 per cent week-on-week to N55.51tn, as expectations for dividend earnings season and Q1 2024 corporate earnings waned.
Despite a weak market breadth, trading activity this week was positive, as evidenced in the traded volume, which advanced by 15.16 per cent week-on-week to 1.84 billion units consummated in 37,528 deals, which dipped by 16.5 per cent from last week’s 44,915.
Also, the traded value rose further by 6.02 per cent week-on-week to N34.26bn. On the sectoral front, performance was largely negative, as the banking index led the losers by 3.10 per cent week-on-week, driven by adverse price movements in FBN Holdings, Wema Bank, Sterling Financial Holding Company, Zenith Bank and FCMB.
Following were oil & gas (1.41 per cent) and consumer goods (1.15 per cent), which were dragged down by declines in the prices of Oando, Nestle, Total, Cadbury and Okomu Oil, respectively. On a positive front, insurance and industrial goods indexes recorded pockets of gains due to the positive sentiment seen in Sunu Assurances, CAP, JapaulGold and WAPCO.
At the close of the week, the best performers included Sunu Assurances (25 per cent), CAP Plc (20.21 per cent), and Livestock (14.48 per cent), as their share prices trended upward due to positive interest from investors.
On the other hand, Oando, Sovereign Trust Insurance and Thomas Wyatt’s stocks all experienced significant losses, with a 19.57 per cent, 18.18 per cent and 16.82 per cent decline in their value, respectively. Looking ahead to the coming week, analysts at Cowry Research anticipated a week of gradual gains in the market, driven by dividend qualifications, despite recent reversal signals.
A market analyst and stockbroker, Ambrose Omordion, posited that the bearish trend in the market offered an opportunity for discerning investors to enter the market.
