The rewarding trading experience had by investors at the stock market last week may have set the path for sustained uptrend as activities resume on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) today.
The market opened for four trading days last week as the Federal Government declared Friday June 6, 2025 and Monday June 9, 2025 as Public Holidays to commemorate 2025 Eid-el-Kabir celebration.
Despite the holiday and reduced activity level evident in the deflated volume and value of trades, investors recorded N1.812 trillion profit during the four trading sessions.
Consequent of the positive sentiment, the aggregate valuation of equity investments at the market surged to N72.275 trillion from N70.463 trillion the week opened.
Similarly, the NGX bench mark index that tracks share price movements posted a corresponding uptick of 2.57%, equivalent to additional 2,892.74 points to close at 114,616.75 basis points. This marked an all-time high for both All-Share Index (ASI) and market capitalisation.
Experts’ Remarks
Market experts were unanimous in their views that the weekly gain signalled sustained bull-run at the market, envisaging that the stimuli that drove the market in the green direction would remain active in the new trading week.
“We expect market direction to remain driven by company and sector-specific developments, in the absence of broader catalysts to sustain momentum,” said investment experts at Cordros Research.
Similarly, market observers at Cowry Assets expect the prevailing trend to persist in the near term as investors continue to realign their portfolios in anticipation of further earnings releases and macroeconomic data, particularly Nigeria’s Q1 2025 GDP numbers.
“The sustained momentum in the market is likely to be driven by a combination of sectoral rotation strategies and positive sentiment surrounding the resilience of the domestic economy,” they added.
The analysts however, hinted that trading may remain moderate as some players adopt a cautious stance ahead of fresh catalysts.
“We maintain our guidance for investors to stay positioned in fundamentally strong counters with solid earnings prospects and defensive characteristics, particularly in light of macroeconomic uncertainty and evolving liquidity dynamics,” the concluded.
Heros of the Week
Trading statistics for last week showed that 53 equities appreciated in prices during the week, lower than 56 equities in the previous week, while 43 equities depreciated in prices, lower than 44 in the previous week; with 52 other equities closing flat on unchanged prices, higher than 48 recorded in the previous week.
Of the 53 gainers from last week, the recorded profit of N1.812 trillion was primarily driven by buying interests in the shares of some heavyweights including MTN Nigeria, Dangote Cement, First Holdco Plc, Oando Plc and Guaranty Trust Holding Company rising by 14%, 2.3%, 17.6%, 25.8% and 4.6% respectively.
However, top five equities with highest weekly return on investment (RoI), measured by the percentage changes in prices are Oando Plc, rising by N11.65 or 25.77% to close at N56.85 from an opening price of N45.20.
LASACO Assurance Plc followed with 21.62% uptick equivalent to 56kobo from N2.59 to close the at N3.15; and Multiverse Mining and Exploration Plc occupied the third spot with N1.55kobo gain or 20.39%, rising in share price from N7.60 to N9.15.
Cornerstone Insurance Plc posted 19.51% or N0.64kobo gain from N3.28 to N3.92 and First Holdco Plc appreciated by N4.40 or 17.6% in share price to close the week at N29.40 from N25 per share.
Trade Distribution
During the week under review, investors recorded a total turnover of 3.214 billion shares worth N76.348 billion in 64,156 deals was traded, in contrast to a total of 3.794 billion shares valued at N119.394 billion that exchanged hands the previous week in 89,636 deals
Measured by volume, the financial services led the activity chart with 2.313 billion shares valued at N52.241 billion traded in 27,326 deals; thus contributing 71.96% and 68.43% to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
The ICT industry followed with 301.996 million shares worth N5.026 billion in 4,137 deals, while the third place was the consumer goods industry, with a turnover of 144.538 million shares worth N5.632 billion in 8,093 deals.
Trading in the top three equities namely Fidelity Bank Plc, Legend Internet Plc and Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc led the volume chart as they accounted for 1.545 billion shares worth N34.446 billion in 4,939 deals, contributing 48.06% and 45.12% to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
