Equities Investors Gain N368bn as NGX Stays on Bull Track
Equities investors in the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) recorded more than N368 billion as a gain due to sustained bargain hunting. The Exchange stayed on the bull track with buying momentum on growth and value listed companies stocks.
The whole week-long rally lifted key performance indicators, with year-to-date return running further ahead of the annual inflation rate. Data from the Nigerian Exchange showed that year-to-date return grew to 38.24%.
Notably, the market recorded gains on all trading sessions, driven by increased demand for BUACEMENT (+6.5%), FBNH (+12.4%), and SEPLAT (+3.9%). Accordingly, the All-Share Index advanced by 0.93% to a new historic level of 70,854.18 points.
This upward movement brought the market’s year-to-date return to an impressive 38.18%. Concurrently, the market capitalisation of listed equities increased by 1.12% week-on-week, reaching N38.91 trillion.
In the just concluded week, MeCure Industries’ addition of N11.8 billion in market capitalisation significantly contributed to this uptrend. Across the sectors, the performance reflects the optimism and confidence of investors amid the ongoing economic developments and anticipation of key reports, Cowry Asset said in its market update.
The trading activity during the week painted a positive picture, with a 2.99% week-on-week increase in the weekly trade volume to reach 2.5 billion units. Meanwhile, the weekly traded value increased by 11.65% week-on-week, amounting to N45.30 billion, according to stockbrokers.
In its market update, Cowry Asset noted that the week was predominantly bullish, with the exception of the Insurance index, which declined by 0.53% week-on-week due to adverse price movement in CHIPLC, LASACO, and ROYALEX.
On the contrary, the Oil and Gas sector led the gainers due to gains in JAPAULGOLD, OANDO, and CONOIL, experiencing a 2.91% week-on-week increase, followed by the Industrial Goods sector with a 2.73% gain. Also, the Banking and Consumer Goods indexes recorded positive movements, rising by 1.17% and 0.05%, respectively from the performance of GLAXOS MITH, PZ, FBNH and FCMB.
Key performers at the close of the week included stocks like JAPAULGOLD (55.91%), RTBRISCOE (39.53%), GLAXOSMITH (29.44%), PZ (15%) and DEAPCAP (14.81%). Conversely, some stocks, such as CAVERTON, TIP, NNFM, MULTIVERSE, and CADBURY, experienced declines in their share prices with losses ranging from -13.64% TO 7.34% on a week-on-week basis.
Overall, equities market capitalisation inched higher by N368.2 billion to close at N39.91 trillion on Friday. Looking ahead, Cowry Research expects the prevailing bullish momentum to persist and to be driven by improved corporate earnings and the commencement of dividend season.
“We believe equity investors will continue to position themselves in dividend-paying stocks. Meanwhile, we continue to advise investors on taking positions in stocks with sound fundamentals”. Nigeria Receives N14.38T from Extractive Sector in 2Yrs –NEITI
