By Chukwuma Umeorah
Despite a shortened trading week due to Eid el Kabir celebrations and profit-taking activities, the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) witnessed a 25.35 per cent boost in equity turnover, primarily driven by strong investor interest in key stocks such as Fidelity Bank Plc, FBN Holdings Plc, and Veritas Kapital Assurance Plc.
These stocks collectively accounted for 2.469 billion shares valued at N37.405 billion in 3,006 deals, contributing 74.80 per cent and 70.37 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value, respectively.
During the three trading days of the week, the total turnover on NGX amounted to 3.301 billion shares worth N53.157 billion across 27,536 deals. This marked a 25.35 per cent increase from the previous week’s figures of 2.633 billion shares valued at N43.652 billion traded in 33,709 deals.
Despite, contributing to the increased volume of trade for the week under review, profit taking activities in the NGX Insurance and Banking index led to a decline of 1.3 per cent and 0.04 per cent respectively week-on-week (WoW).
Consequently, the NGX All-Share Index (ASI) and Market Capitalization experienced a slight decline of 0.18 per cent, closing the week at 99,743.05 points and N56.424 trillion, respectively. This resulted in investors collectively losing N103 billion compared to the preceding trading week.
The market’s month-to-date (Mtd) and Year-to-Date (Ytd) gain stood at 0.45 per cent and 33.39 per cent respectively.
Sectoral performance for the week under review showed mixed results, with the NGX-Consumer Goods, NGX-Oil & Gas, and NGX-Industrial Goods indices leading gainers with marginal increases of 0.29 per cent, 0.21 per cent, and 0.10 per cent respectively. Individual stocks contributing to these gains included GUINNESS, PRESCO, ETERNA, CHAMPION, CUTIX, and TOTAL.
Looking ahead, analysts from Cowry Asset Management Ltd anticipate a mixed sentiment on the local bourse, expecting low valuations and portfolio repositioning for value stocks as investors adopt a cautious approach.
Meanwhile, the banking index may see significant buying interest in the coming weeks as investors monitor banking stocks amid the Central Bank of Nigeria’s recapitalization exercise.
Notably, Fidelity Bank launched its Combined Rights Issue and Public offering aiming to raise N127.1 billion during the week under review.