The financial services industry dominated in volume terms at the end of last week’s transactions on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX).
It led the activity chart with 2.5 million shares valued at N23 billion traded in 19,895 deals. Thus, it contributed 83.9 per cent to the total equity turnover and value.
The oil and gas industry followed with 162.226 million shares worth N4.174 billion in 2,953 deals. The third place was the conglomerates industry, with a turnover of 148.1 million shares worth N530.6 million in 1,962 deals.
Trading in the top three equities namely: Universal Insurance Plc, United Bank for Africa Plc and Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc (measured by volume) accounted for 865.7 million shares worth N12.1 billion in 4,786 deals, contributing 25.7 per cent to the total equity turnover.
A turnover of 3.4 billion shares worth N41.9 billion was recorded in 39,764 deals by investors on the floor of the Exchange, lower than a total of 4.3 billion units valued at N62.176 billion that was exchanged in 44,344 deals on June 16, 2023.
A total of 106,871 units valued of Exchange Traded Products (ETP) valued at N106.5 million were traded in 26 deals last week, compared to 46,043 units valued at N50.724 million transacted in 25 deals during the preceding week.
On the price movement chart, the equities market recorded marginal gain as bargain hunting in Buacement (+4.7 per cent), Dangote cement (+1.2 per cent), and FBN Holdings (+9.5 per cent) lifted the All-share index and market capitalisation by 0.34 per cent to close the week at 59,206.63 and N32.237 trillion respectively.
Similarly, all other indices finished higher with the exception of NGX Lotus II which depreciated by 1.26 per cent while the NGX ASeM index closed flat .
Consequently, the month-to-date and year-to-date returns for the index increased to +6.2 per cent and +15.5 per cent respectively.
Analysts predict brighter outlook on anticipation of increased investors’ bargain hunting and repositioning ahead of the half year (H1) earnings and interim dividend payout by listed firms. Analysts at Codros capital said:” In the week ahead, we expect investors to continue to hunt bargains in search of alpha, amid early positioning ahead of the HY earnings season.
” However, we do not rule out the possibility of profit-taking activities. As a result, we think the local bourse will likely exhibit a choppy pattern. Therefore, we advise investors to take positions in only fundamentally justified stocks.”
Chief Research Officer of Investdata Consulting Limited,Ambrose Omordion said investors have continued to reassess the potentials of the stocks making new 52-week highs due to sustained bargain hunting and positive sentiment following the ongoing economic and financial sector reforms of the new administration.
However, he noted that the market is still awaiting further guidelines, strategies and agenda of the new government to achieve all promised, even with the index recording16-year market high and many stocks hitting new 52-week highs on strong buying sentiments.
“We expect mixed sentiments to continue on profit taking as players target defensive stocks to realign their portfolios, expecting more policy pronouncements and appointments to give the economy a direction.
“We note that discerning investors have continued to target bluechips and defensive stocks to protect their portfolios.
However, investors will take advantage of price rally to take profit, also looking at the trends and events in the nation’s political space and across the globe.”
Vetiva Dealings and brokerage said: “We expect the trading pattern of this week to filter into next week, as investors take profit in some names, while also buy into attractive stocks across board.”
62 equities appreciated in price during the week lower than 77
equities in the previous week. 35 equities depreciated in price higher than 24 in the previous week, while 59 equities remained unchanged, higher than 55 recorded in the previous week.
