The Nigerian equities market continued its upward trend last week, driven by renewed buying interest in selected stocks at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX). The market capitalisation rose to N165.114 trillion from N160.519 trillion, representing a 2.86 per cent increase. The NGX All Share Index (ASI) also gained 7,077.22 points, or 2.86 per cent, to close at 254,299.49 from 247,222.27.
Despite the overall positive performance, market breadth closed negative with 33 gainers against 48 decliners. Trading activity, however, improved sharply, with deals rising 10.99 per cent to 192,138. The volume of shares traded surged 276.43 per cent, while the value increased 475.79 per cent. Investors exchanged 7.619 billion shares worth N637.826 billion, compared to 2.024 billion shares worth N110.773 billion a week earlier.
The Financial Services industry dominated the activity chart, accounting for 6.990 billion shares valued at N573.492 billion in 85,998 deals. This represented 91.75 per cent of the volume and 89.91 per cent of the value. The Consumer Goods and Services sectors also saw significant trading activity, with 164.650 million shares worth N7.201 billion and 93.278 million shares worth N1.567 billion, respectively.
Three stocks – First Holdco, Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO), and United Bank for Africa (UBA) – accounted for 6.096 billion shares worth N544.438 billion, or 80.02 per cent of the volume and 85.36 per cent of the value. The performance of these stocks significantly influenced the overall market trend.
Sectoral performance was mixed, with the Industrial Goods Index advancing 14.58 per cent. This was driven by a rally in Dangote Cement, which outweighed losses in AustinLaz, TrippleG, and BUA Cement. The Oil and Gas index gained 0.82 per cent, driven by advances in Aradel and Eterna, despite a decline in Oando.
However, not all sectors performed well. The Banking index shed 3.42 per cent, as losses in First Holdco, GTCO, and Zenith Bank outweighed gains in Access Corp and UBA. The Insurance index fell 2.13 per cent, while the Consumer Goods index eased 0.02 per cent. These declines suggest that profit-taking and weakness in key sectors could trigger intermittent selling.
In terms of individual stock performance, Dangote Cement topped the gainers’ chart with 27.8 per cent, followed by Honeywell Flour (26.0%), UPDCREIT (20.6 per cent), Sovereign Trust Insurance (20.5 per cent), and Eterna (9.9 per cent). On the other hand, Caverton led the decliners with 25.0 per cent, followed by Livestocks (22.0 per cent), AustinLaz (17.5 per cent), First Holdco (17.3 per cent), and Guinea Insurance (17.2 per cent).
Key points
- The NGX All Share Index gained 7,077.22 points to close at 254,299.49.
- Market capitalisation rose 2.86 per cent to N165.114 trillion.
- The market is expected to sustain a cautiously positive outlook this week.
