Investors in the Nigerian stock market again smiled all the way to the bank on Thursday as the market remained bullish with additional N238 billion profit recorded at the close of the day’s trading session.
As the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited finished strong, the benchmark index that tracks price changes at the local bourse appreciated by 1.10 per cent on the back of sustained bargain hunting by investors in the bellwethers.
Specifically, the All-Share Index (ASI) added 454.40 points to close at 41,704.11 index points from 41,249.71 points, while the market capitalisation rose by N238 billion to peak at N21.764 trillion from N21.526 trillion it finished the previous session.
Trading statistics obtained by Business Metrics however showed that activity level lost momentum during the session as a total of 216.2 million shares valued at N3.4 billion were traded in 4,272 deals as against the 499.5 million shares worth N5.1 billion transacted that exchanged hands in 5,998 deals on Wednesday.
This indicated that the volume of shares bought and sold at the session depreciated by 56.72 per cent, the value of the stocks went down by 33.43 per cent and the number of deals fell by 28.78 per cent.
Meanwhile, FBN Holdings again returned to boost the turnover as the most traded stock with the sale of 51.9 million units valued at N628.3 million, followed by Ecobank which traded 20.0 million units worth N143.7 million.
Transcorp exchanged 14.7 million equities valued at N15.0 million, Access Bank transacted 13.0 million stocks worth N124.2 million, while Fidelity Bank sold 12.5 million shares for N34.2 million.
In terms of market breadth, the bulls dominated the session with a total of 23 equities on the gainers’ chart against 19 losers.
While Cutix led the gainers list after its value went higher by the maximum rise of 10.00 per cent to settle at N5.50,NGX Group trailed as it rose by 9.79 per cent to N23.55.
Consolidated Hallmark Insurance grew by 9.09 per cent to 60 kobo, Nigerian Breweries appreciated by 7.41 per cent to N51.45, while BUA Cement gained 6.12 per cent to sell for N72.00.
Conversely, TIP topped decliner’s chart with 8.51 per cent loss to trade at 43 kobo, followed by Neimeth, which shed 4.86 per cent to close at N1.76.
Similarly, Universal Insurance depreciated by 4.76 per cent to close at 20 kobo, NAHCO lost by 3.61 per cent to N3.47, while Unity Bank went down by 3.51 per cent to 55 kobo.
In terms of the performance of the sectors, the energy space was down by 0.36 per cent while the industrial goods, insurance, consumer goods and banking counters appreciated by 2.16 per cent, 1.56 per cent, 1.45 per cent and 0.17 per cent respectively.
Outlook
Investdata experts had expect a mixed trend as market players reposition for Q3 earnings season and year-end, also react to these numbers, as more quarterly corporate earnings are expected to hit the market.
They said, “Just as candlestick formation and volume traded at the end of midweek trading revealed that trend was intact as institutional players are not selling. It is equally noteworthy that this pullback is for accumulating more positions ahead of the earnings reporting season. Also, many stocks are trading within their buy ranges, a situation expected to attract more funds into the equity space, given the Dividend Yield capable of serving as a hedge against inflation.
“Also, institutional investors and others continue to digest recently release economic data, the outcome of the Treasury bill auction was 91 and 182 days tenor rate remained unchanged and 364 days slightly down by 25 points to 7.25 per cent for a whole one year ahead of earnings season portfolios repositioning.
“Also, investors are still observing the interplay of forces in the FX market as the CBN’s new digital currency platform. The day’s low volume suggests that institutional investors are not making a sell move yet in the market, as they look at the economic data and policy direction of the economic managers.
“It is noteworthy that oil price rebounded in the international market; corporate actions, as well as the interim dividend possibilities, are around the corner for companies like Total, Seplat, Okomu Oil, Presco, Lafarge Africa, and others.”
