The Nigerian Equities market closed upbeat for the second week in a row, as key market indices appreciated 1.64 percent.
The growth recorded at the equities market during the week was occasioned by a moderation in February inflation rate to 17.78 percent from 18.72 percent and steady addition to the foreign reserves, which currently stands at a 15 month high of USD30 billion.
These news, saw the local bourse erase prior negative Month-to-Date (MtD) returns to a positive territory of +1.28 percent, while the year to date loss was trimmed to -4.5 percent.
The NSE All Share Index (ASI) thus gained a total of 415.15 points this week to settle at 25,653.16 basis points, from 25,238.01 basis points recorded at week ended 10th March 2017.
Market Capitalisation of the NSE increased by N143.7 billion from N8.734 trillion recorded previous week to N8.878 trillion inching closer to the N9 trillion mark.
Similarly, all other Indices finished higher during the week with the exception of the NSE Consumer Goods Index that depreciated by 0.02 percent while the ASEM Index closed flat.
The premium Index had the highest WtD growth of 3.86 percent, followed by the Pension Index that rose 2.51 percent while the Banking Index soared 2.36 percent.
Weekly report from the NSE further showed that a total turnover of 1.029 billion shares worth N7.980 billion in 13,441 deals were traded by investors on the floor of the Exchange in contrast to a total of 1.024 billion shares valued at N12.464 billion that exchanged hands previous week in 16,400 deals.
The Financial Services Industry retained its topmost position by volume on the activity chart with 853.414 million shares valued at N4.269 billion and traded in 7,904 deals; contributing 82.91 percent and 53.50 percent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
The Oil and Gas Industry followed with 80.250 million shares worth N1.151 billion in 1,443 deals, while the third place was occupied by Conglomerates Industry with a turnover of 45.770 million shares worth N83.469 million in 596 deals.
Market breadth was positive, with 31 gainers (24 previous week) topped by Diamond Bank that appreciated 16.05 percent to close at 94 kobo as against 20 losers (28 previous week) led by NEM Insurance which declined 10.99 percent in the course of the week to close at 81 kobo per share.
Meanwhile, 124 equities remained unchanged higher than 122 equities recorded in the previous week.
On outlook for the equities market this week, analysts are projecting a further appreciation of the equities market, following the past week’s strong performance across sectors, and a positive market breadth which suggests strengthened appetite.
Also traded in 2 deals during the week, were a total of 20 units of the VETBANK and VETGOODS Exchange Traded Products (ETPs) with a total value of N90.90. 8,390 units of Federal Government Bonds valued at N8.203 million were also traded in 4 deals, compared with a total of 6,686 units valued at N5.583 million transacted previous week in 7 deals.
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