Nigerian Stock Market Delivers 27.5% Return in 10-Week
Nigerian Exchange delivered a 27.5% return over 10 weeks as investors continue to position in stocks with strong fundamentals, growth, and upside potential on the local bourse.
Trading data showed the Nigerian stock market reached N127 trillion, with Premier Paint, BUA Cement, and Conoil leading the weekly rally.
The upswing was supported by modest gains in key stocks, with the NGX All-Share Index (ASI) rising by 0.73% week-on-week to close at 198,407.30 points.
In line with this improvement, the market’s total capitalisation increased by the same margin to ₦127.36 trillion, up from ₦126.47 trillion recorded in the previous week, an increase of ₦923 billion in market value, said Cowry Asset Limited in its market report.
The Nigerian Exchange year-to-date return strengthened to 27.50% at the close of the trading session on Friday, highlighting the continued positive momentum in the domestic stock market.
Despite the overall gain, market breadth remained negative at 0.56x, with 34 stocks advancing and 61 declining. This suggests that although the broader market moved higher, more stocks actually lost value during the week, Cowry Asset said.
Trading activity was relatively subdued, stockbrokers said in separate market updates. The number of deals, trading volume, and total value traded declined by 14.19%, 10.45%, and 7.36% week on week, respectively.
By the end of the week, investors traded 3.31 billion shares worth ₦164.67 billion across 318,640 deals, indicating slightly weaker participation compared to the previous week. Performance across sectors was mixed.
The banking, insurance, and commodity indices declined by 1.04%, 4.59%, and 0.48%, respectively. Meanwhile, the consumer goods, oil and gas, and industrial indices recorded gains of 0.63%, 1.50%, and 5.73%, reflecting stronger investor interest in those sectors.
At the stock level, Premier Paints Plc led the gainers with a 32.9% increase, followed by Conoil Plc (+20.9%), BUA Cement Plc (+20.0%), Fidson Healthcare Plc (+19.0%), and Omatek Ventures Plc (+18.2%), largely supported by strong buying interest.
On the other hand, SCOA Nigeria Plc (-34.1%), FTG insure Plc (-20.8%), Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc (-20.7%), Alexandria Engineering Plc (-18.7%), and LivingTrust Mortgage Bank Plc (-17.4%) recorded the largest declines, reflecting profit-taking and continued selling pressure in those stocks.
“Looking ahead, market performance is expected to remain mixed as investors continue to rebalance their portfolios and take profits in recently appreciated stocks.
“However, selective buying interest in fundamentally sound companies and dividend-paying stocks could provide some support to the market.
“Overall, trading activity is likely to remain cautious as investors monitor macroeconomic developments and corporate earnings expectations”, Cowry Asset stated. Nigerian Treasury Bills Yield Rises to 17.3% after Auction
