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By Chukwuma Umeorah
The Nigerian equities market closed the week on a positive note, with investors gaining N426.69 billion amid renewed optimism and improved trading activity across the Exchange.
The NGX All-Share Index appreciated by 0.72 per cent week-on-week (WoW) to close at 98,210.75 points, as market capitalization rose to N59.53 trillion. This rebound moderated the market’s Quarter-to-date (QtD) losses to 0.35 per cent while maintaining a Year-to-date (YtD) return of 31.30 per cent.
Sectoral performance was largely positive, with the NGX Insurance Index surging 8.45 per cent and the NGX Oil/Gas Index rising 4.84 per cent. The NGX Industrial Goods Index, NGX Banking Index, and NGX Consumer Goods Index also gained 2.52 per cent, 1.30 per cent, and 0.13 per cent, respectively. However, the NGX Main Board and NGX Growth Indices declined marginally by 0.39 per cent and 0.15 per cent, respectively.
Market activity surged as the total volume of shares traded increased by 21.9 per cent WoW to 3.893 billion units valued at N87.75 billion, exchanged in 43,867 deals. The Financial Services sector led the activity chart, contributing 69.58 per cent to the total volume with 2.709 billion shares valued at N51.03 billion. The Consumer Goods and Industrial Goods sectors followed, recording turnovers of 403.658 million shares and 198.360 million shares, respectively.
FBN Holdings Plc, Wema Bank Plc, and Fidelity Bank Plc emerged as the top three equities by volume, collectively accounting for 1.625 billion shares valued at N28.982 billion, representing 41.74 per cent of the total turnover volume.
Notable gainers for the week included Golden Guinea Breweries Plc, which surged 46 per cent, followed by SUNU Assurances Nigeria Plc and Lafarge Africa Plc, which rose by 30 per cent and 28 per cent, respectively. Conversely, Learn Africa Plc led the losers, declining by 12 per cent, with Aradel Holdings Plc, E-Tranzact International Plc, Red Star Express Plc, and John Holt Plc shedding 10 per cent each.
Analysts anticipate continued positive momentum as investors react to corporate announcements and economic developments. Cowry Research stated in their weekly note, “From a technical perspective, the NGX appears to be in a markup phase amidst ongoing recovery and market volatility. The candlestick patterns and momentum indicators suggest a balanced interplay of market strength and weakness.”
