The Nigerian equities market continued its upward trajectory last week, reaching a historic milestone as the NGX All-Share Index (ASI) surpassed the 100,000-point mark for the first time since July 2024.
The index closed at 101,129.09 points, reflecting a week-on-week (w/w) gain of 1.76%. This rally was fueled by investors’ renewed confidence across multiple sectors, bolstered by festive season optimism and increased economic activity associated with Christmas.
Market capitalization mirrored the index’s rise, increasing by N1.06 trillion to N61.3 trillion, also up 1.76% w/w.
This growth underscores robust investor appetite for Nigerian equities, supported by year-end portfolio adjustments and a positive macroeconomic outlook.
The year-to-date return on the ASI surged to an impressive 35.25%, making it the best-performing index in 2024.
Mixed Trading Patterns amid Inflation Concerns
While bullish sentiment dominated, trading activity displayed mixed trends as investors reassessed portfolios in light of November’s inflation data.
The total volume of shares traded dropped by 10.32% to 2.44 billion units, but the value of transactions rose sharply by 78.84% to N88.81 billion, reflecting cautious trading amid strategic market positioning. A total of 48,216 deals were executed during the week.
Sectoral Performance
Sectoral performance was largely positive, with 61 stocks gaining against 26 decliners.
The NGX-Insurance and NGX-Banking indices led the charge, posting gains of 8.83% and 3.23% w/w, respectively, driven by strong interest in financial stocks.
The NGX-Consumer Goods and NGX-Oil & Gas sectors also saw gains of 2.92% and 0.99% w/w, respectively, due to heightened demand for energy and consumer stocks with solid fundamentals.
In contrast, the NGX-Industrial Goods sector declined by 0.83%, reflecting profit-taking activities that dampened performance slightly.
Top Gainers and Losers
Among individual stocks, MRS Oil Plc emerged as the week’s top gainer, soaring by 36.4%, followed by Eterna Oil (+32.4%), Honeywell Flour (+31.5%), Livestock Feeds (+30.2%), and Coronation Insurance (+26.9%). These stocks benefited from strong growth prospects and heightened investor interest.
On the other hand, John Holt Plc led the decliners, shedding 18.7%, followed by Multiverse Exploration (-18.6%), University Press (-16.3%), Tantalizer (-13.0%), and PZ Cussons (-8.0%), as profit-taking pressures impacted these counters.
Outlook
The market is expected to sustain its bullish momentum in the coming weeks, driven by year-end window-dressing activities by fund managers.
Investors will closely monitor the impact of recently published inflation data on their portfolios and trading strategies.
Improved macroeconomic indicators and ongoing portfolio rebalancing efforts are likely to keep market activity buoyant.
As 2024 draws to a close, strategic positioning is expected to guide investor decisions, setting the stage for a strong conclusion to what has been a record-breaking year for the Nigerian equities market.
