Nigerian Bourse Ends Week Positive after 3-Day Rally
The Nigerian local bourse ends positively following three days rally this week as investors gain N18 billion on Friday. Although the market closed positive on three of the week’s four trading sessions, the gains proved insufficient in pushing the market to a green close for the week.
When compared with its opening position, it would be observed that the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) market capitalisation tumbled N266 billion from the previous week position to N20.143 trillion.
Analysts observed that investors took full advantage of the gains recorded over the last two weeks in booking profit on bellwether stocks.
Precisely, the NGX All-share Index shed 1.3% week on week to close at 38,648.91points, though it popped up 0.09% on the last trading day of the week.
Specifically, foreign investors’ sell-offs AIRTELAF which plunged 10.0% and profit-taking in OKOMUOIL which resulted in a 9.4% decline in stock value and STANBIC did shed 4.9%, the combined effect of which drove the weekly loss.
Consequently, month to date return decreased to 0.5%, while the year to date loss increased to -4.0%.
Activity levels were mixed, as trading volume declined by 9.4% this week compare with previous week, while trading value rose by 8.8%.
On the other hand, sectoral performance was broadly positive as the Banking (+1.1%), Oil and Gas (+1.0%), Insurance (+0.8%), and Consumer Goods (+0.2%) indices recorded gains. Elsewhere, the Industrial Goods index closed flat.
Following two consecutive weeks of gains, the bullish run on the domestic bourse was halted as sell-offs in market bellwethers dragged performance.
Overall, the top traded stocks by volume were ZENITH (96.9 million units), STERLING (86.9 million), and ACCESS (82.7 million) while ZENITH (₦2.3 billion), GUARANTY (₦954.6 million) and SEPLAT (₦809.5m) were the top traded stocks by value.
Afrinvest said performance across sectors under its coverage were bullish as 4 of 6 indices closed in the green. The Banking index advanced the most, up 1.1% week on week following price appreciation in ACCESS (+4.3%) and ZENITH (+2.8%).
The Oil & Gas index followed, up 1.0% on the back of gains in SEPLAT (+1.4%) and OANDO (+0.7%) while the Insurance index climbed 0.8% w/w due to rallies in LASACO (+10.3%), NEM (+3.9%) and WAPIC (+3.6%).
Similarly, the Consumer Goods index rose 0.2% this week compare with prior week as investors took a position in CHAMPION (+10.0%) and HONYFLOUR (+6.1%).
Conversely, losses in AIRTELAF (-10.0%), CHAMS (-4.8%), and WAPCO (-0.9%) dragged the AFR-ICT and Industrial Goods indices lower by 4.1% and 0.1%.
Investor sentiment, as measured by market breadth, improved to 1.7x (against 1.2x recorded last week) as 38 stocks advanced against 22 that declined.
The best performing stocks were BERGER (+14.9%), LASACO (+10.3%) and CHAMPION (+10.0%) while UACN (-11.0%), AIRTELAF (-10.0%) and ABBEYBDS (-9.5%) were the worst performers.
“In the coming week, we expect to see some bargain hunting in early trades as investors seek to take position in bellwethers that have fallen to attractive entry prices. However, we believe the negative performance will be sustained in the absence of a positive catalyst”, Afrinvest said.
Nigerian Bourse Ends Week Positive following 3-Day Rally
