Bulls reclaim NGX trading floor with N148bn weekly profit
Despite the shortened trading week due to the public holidays on Wednesday and Thursday, the bulls regained control of the Nigerian stock market following a flawless victory over the bears in the three trading sessions of the week.
The comeback staged by the bulls led to N148 billion gain for equities investors despite observed depressed activity levels attributed to the two-day holiday.
Specifically, the All-Share Index (ASI) advanced by 283.14 points or 0.72 per cent week-0n-week to close at 39,494.70 basis points, while market capitalization closed the week at N20.579 trillion, higher than N20.431 trillion it opened the week.
Consequently, the year-to-date (YtD) losses on equities moderated to -1.9 per cent. It was also observed that buying interests during the week were largely concentrated in banking stocks.
However, stock turnover was bearish and weak, as trading volume and value declined significantly by 52.4 per cent and 53.9 per cent respectively relative to the previous week.
Specifically, investors’ interest in INTBREW (+7.6%) and bargain hunting in ZENITHBANK (+6.8%), ACCESS (+3.7%), GUARANTY (+2.7%) and DANGCEM (+1.6%) were the primary drivers of the positive performance during the week.
Performance across sectors was broadly positive, with the Banking (+3.2%) index topping the gainers’ chart, followed by the Insurance (+1.9%), the Industrial Goods (+0.8%), and Consumer Goods (+0.3%) indices. The Oil and Gas (0.0%) index closed flat.
Analysts in the capital market envisaged that in the week ahead, the possibility of the bulls repeating the flawless pattern of victory that ensued last week is unrealistic as the bears are likely to book profit across most counters.
“Consequently, we see more of a “choppy theme” as cautious trading takes centre stage ahead of a critical MPC meeting scheduled later in the month.
“Notwithstanding, we advise investors to take positions in only fundamentally justified stocks as the weak macro story remains a significant headwind for corporate earnings,” analysts said.
Trading Statistics
During the week ended Friday 14, May 2021, investors traded a total turnover of 840.334 million shares worth N9.561 billion in 13,239 deals in contrast to a total of 1.419 billion shares valued at N15.918 billion that exchanged hands the previous week in 18,459 deals.
In terms of volume, the Financial Services Industry led the activity chart with 541.015 million shares valued at N5.493 billion traded in 7,824 deals; thus contributing 64.38 per cent and 57.45 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
The ICT Industry followed with 90.382 million shares worth N571.642 million in 500 deals. The third place was Conglomerates Industry, with a turnover of 84.792 million shares worth N512.775 million in 551 deals.
Trading in the top three equities namely Access Bank Plc, Zenith Bank Plc and Etranzact International Plc (measured by volume) accounted for 284.924 million shares worth N3.470 billion in 2,533 deals, contributing 33.91 per cent and 36.29 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
A total of 14,477 units of Equity Traded products (ETPs) valued at N258,795.90 were traded in four deals compared with a total of 30,004 units valued at N1.704 million transacted the previous week in 11 deals.
In the bond segment of the market, investors traded a total of 151,345 units valued at N157.944 million during the week in 75 deals compared with a total of 19,573 units valued at N21.027 million transacted in eight deals the previous week.
