Equities market extended weekly bullish run as investors gained N1.85trn

By Motolani Oseni

The Nigerian equities market extended its bullish run for a second week as the All-Share Index (ASI) advanced by 4.24 per cent week-on-week (W-o-W) to close at 83,042.96 points, while investors gained N1.85 trillion to close the week at N45.442 trillion.

Across various sectors, a bullish trend prevailed, as NGX Consumer Goods, NGX Insurance, and NGX Banking stocks emerged as the frontrunners, registering increases of 9.60 per cent, 7.63 per cent, and 5.10 per cent, respectively W-o-W.

Similarly, the NGX Industrial Goods index recorded a weekly gain of 4.80 per cent increase. However, the NGX Oil & Gas Index lagged behind with a weekly loss of 1.61 per cent.

The market breadth for the week was positive as 75 equities appreciated in price, 23 equities depreciated in price, while 57 equities remained unchanged. Cadbury Nigeria led the gainers table by 42.31 per cent to close at N24.05 per share. Veritas Kapital Assurance followed with a gain of 39.47 per cent to close at 53 kobo, while Julius Berger went up by 32.94 per cent to close to N56.50, per share.

On the other side, DAAR Communications led the decliners table by 30.23 per cent to close at 90 kobo, per share. Totalenergies Marketing Nigeria followed with a loss of 10.00 per cent to close at N346.50, while NEM Insurance declined by 9.45 per cent to close at N5.75, per share.

Overall, a total turnover of 5.719 billion shares worth N88.828 billion in 80,064 deals was traded last week by investors on the floor of the Exchange, in contrast to a total of 3.320 billion shares valued at N41.755 billion that exchanged hands prior week in 46,994 deals.

The Financial Services Industry (measured by volume) led the activity chart with 3.873 billion shares valued at N53.364 billion traded in 39,913 deals; contributing 67.72 per cent and 60.08 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.

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The Conglomerates Industry followed with 725.490 million shares worth N9.886 billion in 7,658 deals, while the Oil and Gas Industry pulled a turnover of 223.240 million shares worth N2.690 billion in 4,464 deals.

Trading in the top three equities; Transnational Corporation (Transcorp), FCMB Group and Fidelity Bank (measured by volume) accounted for 1.380 billion shares worth N17.741 billion in 12,442 deals, contributing 24.12 per cent and 19.97 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.

Capital market analysts, therefore, expected positive sentiments to continue this week as investors take position for the year.

Cordros Securities Limited said: “in the short term, we expect market performance to be dominated by the bulls, as positioning for 2023 full year earnings releases and accompanying dividends declarations should outweigh profit-taking activities.

“Notwithstanding, we advise investors to take positions in only fundamentally justified stocks as the weak macro environment remains a significant headwind for corporate earnings.”

Looking ahead, analysts at Cowry Assets Management Limited said: “we think the market promises a nuanced market environment, appearing poised for a potential pullback in the short term. Expectations include mixed sentiment, profit-taking, and the persistence of bargain hunters amidst anticipation of unaudited Q4 2023 financial results.

“Additionally, market participants will brace for volatility in light of the expected December Consumer Price Index (CPI) release and the impending Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting in January. Amidst all these, we maintain our advice to investors on taking positions in stocks with sound fundamentals and whose earnings yield and earnings per share support higher payout ratio, while taking advantage of the price corrections in the market.”