NGX Rises to N29.9trn as Investors Gain N624bn
Despite election jittery, the Nigerian stock market gained about N624 billion as the size of the local bourse expanded near N30 trillion on Friday. The market surge was driven by buying interest in bellwether stocks ahead of Saturday’s election.
The positive sentiment seen triggered buying interest on Ticker: AIRTELAF, BUAFOODS, and DANGCEM. The positive price movements pushed the Nigerian Exchange upward by 2.1% to 54,949.21 points week on week.
Telecom company Airtel Africa, which is the stock market’s major market mover, gained 3.8% last week. BUA Foods supported the upbeat with 15.6% share appreciation and Dangote cement popped 0.7%.
In a market report, Afrinvest said performance across sectors within its coverage was largely bullish as all indices advanced save the Insurance index which closed flat.
The Consumer Goods and Oil & Gas indices gained 6.3% and 2.7% week on week respectively, according to the investment firm driven by price uptick in BUAFOODS (+15.6%), FLOURMILL (+3.7%), and CONOIL (+20.9%).
Trailing, buying interest in ZENITH (+3.0%), FIDELITY (+6.1%), AIRTELAF (+3.8%) and CWG (+19.8%) pushed the Banking and AFR-ICT indices inched higher by 2.2% and 2.0% week on week, Afrinvest said.
Equally, the Industrial Goods index grew by 0.3% week on week following gains in DANGCEM (+0.7%) and TRIPPLEG (+31.7%). Investor sentiment, measured by market breadth, improved to 0.2x from 0.1x in the prior week, as 38 stocks gained, 22 lost while 92 closed flat.
Market analysts said JOHNHOLT (+32.3%), TRIPPLEG (+31.7%), and CONOIL (+20.9%) led the top gainers while CAPHOTEL (-9.4%), VITAFOAM (-7.2%) and NEIMETH (-6.5%) led the decliners.
Market data indicated that average volume and value traded fell 10.3% and 18.1% on weekly basis to 134.9 million units and ₦3.4 billion. The most traded stocks by volume were GTCO (88.9m units), ZENITH (69.8m units), and UBA (46.0m units) while AIRTELAF (₦4.4bn), GTCO (₦2.2bn), and ZENITH (₦1.8bn) led by value.
Despite the upbeat investor sentiment, stockbrokers and market analysts anticipate cautious trading next week as post-election developments unravel. Overall, stock market capitalisation expanded ₦623.6 billion to ₦29.9 trillion while year-to-date return improved to 7.2%. # NGX Rises to N29.9trn as Investors Gain N624bn
