NGX Gains N868bn as Companies Release Results
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) closed in the green territory despite profit-taking activities that put pressure on the market index last week. To sustain past momentum, equities investors were seen taking positions in defensive stocks to protect their portfolios.
The twisted trading activities at the Lagos bourse occurred as investors digested the outcome of the recently held monetary policy committee (MPC) meeting and the impressive half-year scorecards by corporates.
Consequently, the year-to-date gain of the index printed at 26.94%, racing ahead of an annual inflation rate of 22.79% at the current reading.
There was bargain hunting in SEPLAT (+21.0%) and STANBIC (+10.9%) amid sell-offs of NB (-19.0%) and FBNH (-6.6%) stocks. Thus, the Nigerian Exchange All-share Index (NGX-ASI) recorded a week-on-week gain of 0.1% to close at 65,056.39 points.
Activity level dampened as average volume and value traded fell 31.7% and 62.0% to 570.9m units and ₦7.5 billion week on week respectively.
Though the number of weekly deals saw an upward movement by 22bps week on week to reach 41,539 deals, the average traded volume experienced a southward movement by 31.75% week-on-week to 2.85 billion units.
Additionally, the weekly average value contracted by 67.39% week on week to N32.29 billion, compared to N99.05 billion in the previous week. Looking at the performance of specific stocks, several individual stocks stood out in terms of their performance during the week,
The top traded stocks by volume were FBNH (403.4m units), JAPAU GO D (248.7m units), and UBA (204.8m units), while FBNH (₦8.6m), GTCO (₦3.5m) and ZENITH (₦3.2m) led in terms of value.
LASACO (+27%), NASCON (+24%) and FTNCOCOA (+24%) were the leading gainers’ list, showcasing remarkable growth rates. Afrinvest said across its coverage sectors, performance was negatively skewed as 4 indices lost, while the other 2 indices gained.
Leading the laggards, the Consumer Goods and Banking indices declined 2.4% and 2.2% respectively driven by price depreciation in CADBURY (-26.8%), UNILEVER (-11.2%), STERLING (-11.6%), and WEMABANK (-9.1%).
Trailing, the Insurance and Industrial Goods indices also fell 1.6% and 0.3% accordingly due to selling pressure on MANSARD (-9.3%), CORNERST (-7.3%), CUTIX (-10.1%), and WAPCO (-5.9%).
Conversely, the Oil & Gas index rose 9.3% driven by price appreciation in SEPLAT (+21.0%) and TOTAL (+4.1%). The market saw a price uptick in MTNN (+0.7%) pushing the AFR-ICT index up by 0.4% in the week.
Investor sentiment, measured by market breadth, worsened to -0.3x (previously 0.8x) as 38 stocks gained, 54 lost and 61 remained unchanged. Notable gainers for the week include SKYAVNN (+43.8%), LASACO (+26.9%), and NASCON (+24.1%), while CADBURY (-26.8%), JOHNHOLT (-23.1%), and MULTIVERSE (-19.7%) topped the loser’s chart.
Despite the weak sentiment recorded this week, Afrinvest market analysts said they anticipate a sustained positive outing on the bourse next week driven by strategic positioning. Overall, equities market capitalisation advanced ₦867.7 billion to ₦35.7 trillion, while year-to-date return improved to 26.9% from 26.8%.
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