NGX Closed Positive as Buying Interest Sustains Momentum
The Nigerian Exchange, NGX, closed positive on Friday as buying interest in mid and large-cap stocks sustain momentum, driven WAPCO, Flour Mills of Nigeria and eleven other stocks.
Market data shows that Stock performance indicators grew marginally by 0.02 per cent, moderating year to date losses as yields move negative in the fixed income space. It is noted that the positive sentiment was impacted by growth in consumer goods and industrial goods sectors.
NGX sees the All-Share Index grew by 8.82 basis points on Friday, representing a 0.02 per cent increase to close at 39,261.01. Also, market capitalization gained ₦4.59 billion, representing a growth of 0.02 per cent to close at ₦20.46 trillion.
Despite this, market activities closed negatively, as the total volume and value traded depreciated by 31.22 per cent and 1.76 per cent, respectively. A total of 180.30 million units of shares valued at ₦1.72 billion were traded in 3.158 deals.
TRANSCORP led on the volume chart, accounting for 11.38 per cent of the total volume of trades, followed by ACCESS (10.28%), UNITYBNK (8.48%), MBENEFIT (6.55%), and FBNH (6.53%) to complete the top five on the volume chart.
MTNN emerged as the most traded stock in value terms, with 19.90 per cent of the total value of trade on the exchange.
NEIMETH topped the gainers’ table with price appreciation of 7.57 per cent, followed closely by TRANSCORP (5.62%), FLOURMILL (3.99%), AFRIPRUD (2.46%), WAPCO (1.82%), GTCO (1.27%), ZENITH BANK (0.18%) and six others.
On the other hand, MBENEFIT topped the decliners’ table as its share price declined by 9.68 per cent to close at ₦0.28, as CHAMS (-4.55%), STANBIC (-3.05%), FIDELITYBK (-2.08%), FCMB (-1.67%), VITAFOAM (-1.21%), OANDO (-0.73%) and ACCESS (-0.54%) amongst others also decline in price.
The market breadth closed negatively with 13 gainers as against 16 losers.
Analysts at Cordros Capital review of the week stock market performance see a bearish sentiment that dominated the market as the local bourse records losses in three of the five trading sessions. The losing streaks happened following sell-offs of large-cap stocks including NB (-7.7%), DANGCEM (-1.8%) and ZENITH BANK (-1.2%).
Consequently, the All-Share Index shed 0.6% week on week to close at 39,261.01 points. Accordingly, the month and year to date returns settled at +0.1% and -2.5%, respectively.
However, activity levels were strong, as trading volumes and value rose by 29.3% week on week and 5.0%, respectively.
Analysing by sectors, the Oil and Gas (-3.0%), Consumer Goods (-1.3%), Industrial Goods (-0.9%), and Banking (-0.6%) indices all closed in the red. However, the Insurance (+0.8%) index emerged as the sole gainer for the week.
“In the coming week, we expect earnings from the big banks, specifically GTCO and UBA to drive buying sentiments on the bourse, as the declaration of interim dividends may likely accompany the results.
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“Overall, we advise investors to take positions in only fundamentally justified stocks as the unimpressive macro story remains a significant headwind for corporate earnings”, analysts said.
