The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) stayed in the green with about N1.33 trillion gain over the last five trading sessions due to increased value hunting in the market. The local bourse year-to-date return has inched near 27% as a result of positive price movements across bellwether in the local bourse.
Alpha seekers in the market rode on positive sentiment, and earnings expectations to boost their stockholdings. In an email chat, a number of stockbrokers said the local bourse would skyrocket in the coming weeks as companies release earnings scorecards.
“Based on the observed trend, there will be solid bargain hunting in banking stocks amidst the ongoing re-rating that started after the suspension of Godwin Emefiele as Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria…there is this positive expectation among shareholders that suggest the banking sector have been subjected to undue stress by the regulator”, Research analysts at LSintelligence Associates said.
Last week, the local exchange opened the week on a positive note as investors embraced a bullish outlook. Then. The All-Share Index (NGXASI) closed at 62,943.35 points, registering a broad 60 basis points increase compared to the previous week.
Futureview Financial Services Limited said the early boost set the tone for the following trading sessions, with bullish sentiments dominating the week. The market closed with four bullish days and one day of bearish sentiment.
The investment firm said heightened interest and demand for banking and insurance stocks propelled the All-Share Index to reach yet another remarkable 15-year high, Futureview market analyst said, culminating at 65,003.39 points by the end of the session on Friday. .
Overall, the market achieved a noteworthy 389 basis points gain in the week. Then, a rather strong-than-anticipated gain lifted year-to-date gain to 26.83% at the close of the trading session for the week. In its market update, Futureview told investors that a total turnover of 4.182 billion shares worth N99.048 billion in 41,446 deals was traded on the floor of the Exchange. This was in contrast to a total of 5.246 billion shares valued at N63.417 billion that exchanged hands last week in 57,234 deals.
Stockbrokers said the financial services industry (measured by volume) led the activity chart with 3.015 billion shares valued at N36.762 billion traded in 20,079 deals; thus contributing 72.08% and 37.12% to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
Also, the Oil and Gas Industry followed with 311.172 million shares worth N2.128 billion in 3,473 deals. The third place was the Conglomerates Industry, with a turnover of 180.518 million shares worth N787.392 million in 2,111 deals.
Trading in the top three equities namely United Bank for Africa, FCMB Group Plc, and Japaul Gold & Ventures Plc (measured by volume) accounted for 1.727 billion shares worth N18.239 billion in 4,707 deals, contributing 41.29% and 18.41% to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
Stockbrokers’ market update showed that seventy-three equities appreciated in price during the week higher than twenty-nine (29) equities in the previous week. On the other hand, Nineteen equities depreciated in price lower than seventy-seven (77) in the previous week, while sixty-four (64) equities remained unchanged, higher than fifty (50) recorded in the previous week.
Market data showed that performance across sectors was broadly positive, as the Banking index gained 15.8%, recording the most significant gain, followed by the Insurance which popped up by 5.6%. The Industrial Goods index rose 2.8%, the Consumer Goods surged by 1.7%, and Oil and Gas grew by 0.6% last week.
In its market update, Cowry Asset Management Limited told investors that several individual stocks stood out in terms of their performance during the week. COURTVILLE gained 33%, MORISON jumped up by 31% and NASCON rose by 22% – showcasing remarkable growth rates. Conversely, CHAMPION lost 32%. WEMABANK fell by 26%, and STERLINGNG plunged by 25% – leading the laggards’ chart.
Overall, equities market capitalisation inched northward by 3.89% week-on-week to hit N35.39 trillion as the market gained over N1.33 trillion in 4 out of 5 sessions.
