Dangote Cement Plc and FBN Holding Plc pushed the All-Share Index (ASI) to a seven-month high to close at 40,221.17 points last week, the highest level since February 21, 2021, despite the shortened trading session.
The market opened for four trading days as the Federal Government declared Friday, October 1, 2021, public holiday to mark the nation’s 61st Independence Day.
ASI and market capitalisation appreciated by 3.23 per cent and 3.57 per cent to close the week at 40,221.17 and N20.956 trillion.
Similarly, all other indices finished higher except the NGX Insurance index which depreciated by 7.58 per cent, while the NGX ASeM and NGX Growth Indices closed flat.
Last week, the gains recorded on the last two trading sessions (Wednesday and Thursday) drove the market to the green territory for the week.
For instance, the equities market rebounded after two sessions of losses last week Wednesday, occasioned by gains in many highly capitalised stocks, causing market capitalisation to soar by N382 billion.
The ASI increased by 733.3 absolute points, representing a growth of 1.89 per cent to close at 39,592.29 points. Similarly, the market capitalisation gained N382 billion to close at N20.63 trillion.
Also, at the end of transactions on Thursday, transactions sustained a rising profile as more bluechip stocks join the league of gainers, causing investors’ wealth to surge further by N328 billion.
The ASI increased by 628.88 absolute points, representing a growth of 1.59 per cent to close at 40,221.17 points. Similarly, the market capitalisation gained N328 billion to close at N20.96 trillion.
Last week ,upturn was impacted by gains recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, amongst which are; Dangote Cement, Presco, Okomu Oil, Nigerian Breweries and May and Baker Nigeria.
This week, analysts expect profit-taking activities in bellwethers to dominate the market as investors leverage the capital appreciation recorded last week to recoup their investment.
Analysts at Cordros capital said: “We expect the bears to dominate market performance in the coming week, as investors cashed out on the gains across bellwether stocks this week. However, we expect this to be tempered by bargain hunting activities from early birds ahead of the Q3-21 earnings season.
“However, we advise investors to take positions in only fundamentally justified stocks as the weak macro environment remains a significant headwind for corporate earnings.”
Afrinvest Securities said: “In the coming week, we expect the positive momentum to gain further traction on improved investor sentiment.”
A total turnover of 2.187 billion shares worth N16.2 billion was recorded in 14,377 deals by investors on the floor of the exchange last week, in contrast to a total of 1.290 billion units valued at N13.921 billion that changed hands in 16,745 deals during the preceding week.
The financial services industry (measured by volume) led the activity chart with 778.434 million shares valued at N5.591 billion traded in 7,183 deals; thus contributing 35.6 per cent and 34.55 per cent to the total equity turnover volume.
The services industry followed with 775.712 million shares worth N2.9 billion in 416 deals. The consumer goods industry ranked third with a turnover of 448.662 million shares worth N3.9 billion in 2,257 deals.
Trading in the top three equities namely Transcorp Hotels Plc, Honeywell Flour Mill Plc and FBN Holdings Plc (measured by volume) accounted for 1.494 billion shares worth N6.9 billion in 1,017 deals, contributing 68.33 per cent to the total equity turnover.
A total of 160,433 units of exchange traded products (ETFs) valued at 52.35 million were traded in 23 deals last week compared to 9,728 units valued at N437,821.7 transacted in 18 deals during the preceding week.
Also, 41,267 units of bonds, valued at N42.57 million were traded in 17 deals compared with a total of 60,929 units worth N62.8 million transacted during the preceding week in 27 deals.
33 equities appreciated during the week, higher than 28 equities in the previous week. Twenty-two equities depreciated, lower than 23 equities in the previous week while 100 equities remained unchanged lower than 104 equities recorded in the previous week.
