Equities Investors Gain N237bn in Stock Market
In the Nigerian Exchange (NGX), equities investors gain about N237 billion amidst strong buying interest seen across sectors listed in the local bourse. Ahead of the Santa Claus rally, the market has been sustaining the ongoing rally which has expanded the breadth and length of the domestic bourse.
Key performance indicators continue to improve amidst what some analysts call healthy free funding in the economy – a notion supported by the fact that both fixed income and equities markets have traded on bullish notes in recent times.
In the just concluded week, the Nigerian Exchange All-Share index advanced 0.9% to 49,316.29 points, following a price rally in ZENITH (+9.0%), BUACEMENT (+6.6%), and WAPCO (+3.0%). BUA Cement has been upbeat for the most part of the month.
Due to the buying interest, the stock market gained strongly, popping up N256.5 billion to close at N26.8 trillion, pushing year-to-date return upward to 15.5% – still behind the average inflation rate in the year.
Data from the local bourse shows that activity level was mixed as the average volume traded rose 6.4% week on week to 162.8 million units while the value traded fell 10.5% to ₦2.7 billion.
In the week, the most traded stocks by volume were STERLNBANK (191.6m units), ACCESSCORP (128.5m units), and GTCO (57.1m units) while MTNN (₦3.8bn), GTCO (₦1.2bn), and ACCESSCORP (₦1.1bn) led by value.
In a market report, Afrinvest said performance across sectors under its coverage was positively skewed as 4 of the 6 indices advanced week on week. The Industrial Goods and Banking indices led the pack, up 3.4% and 2.9% respectively following price uptick in BUACEMENT and ZENITH.
Trailing, stockbrokers at the investment firm stated that the Insurance and Oil & Gas indices rose by 0.5% and 0.4% sequentially due to gains in WAPIC (+10.8%) and ARDOVA (+9.5%).
Conversely, there were sell-offs in MTNN (-0.5%) and DANGSUGAR (-4.3%) which according to Afrinvest, dragged the AFR-ICT and Consumer Goods indices lower by 0.2% apiece.
Even while the local bourse remains largely upbeat, equities investor sentiment as measured by market breadth weakened to 0.03x from 0.83x as 31 stocks gained, 28 lost while 93 closed flat. >>>Nigerian Bourse Extends Gain as Banks Shares Rally
LEARNAFR gained 28.5% in a week. THOMASWY popped up 18.8% and CORNERSTONE rose by 13.0%) to lead the gainers’ chart. Meanwhile, MCNICHOL lost 11.5% due to large selloffs.
The same trading pattern was potted in ACADEMY with a 9.7% price decline while there was 8.7% drop in PRESTIGE. Afrinvest said it anticipates a modest sell-off as investors begin to re-align portfolios ahead of the New Year. # Equities Investors Gain N237bn in Stock Market
