The volume of shares traded on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) soared last week, as a turnover of 1.785 billion shares worth N19.6 billion was recorded in 27,822 deals. This was higher than 1.448 billion units valued at N19 billion that changed hands in 22,557 deals the preceding week.
The financial services industry (measured by volume) led the activity chart with 1.094 billion shares valued at N10.5 billion traded in 13,580 deals; thus, contributing 61.3 per cent to the total equity turnover.
The conglomerate industry followed with 144.172 million shares worth N253.3 million in 1,077 deals. The ICT Industry ranked third with a turnover of 122.193 million shares worth N1.7 billion in 1,661 deals.
Trading in the top three equities namely Fidelity Bank Plc, Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc and Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc accounted for 415.095 million shares worth N3.2 billion 3,556 deals, contributing 23.25 per cent to the total equity turnover volume.
Reacting to market performance last week, analysts at Cordros Capital said: “In the short term, we expect the bulls to continue to rotate their portfolio towards dividend-paying stocks ahead of 2021FY dividend declarations, even as institutional investors continue to search for clues on the direction of yields in the fixed income market.
“However, we advise investors to take positions in only fundamentally justified stocks as the weak macro environment remains a significant headwind for corporate earnings.”
Analysts at Vetiva Dealings and Brokerage also said: “We saw a slight recovery in the banking space today, however, the market traded bearishly as most of the sectors closed in the red. We expect the new week to start in mixed sentiments, amid cherry-picking activities.”
Further breakdown of last week’s trading showed that a total of 24,350 units of exchange-traded funds (ETF) valued at N574,834.85 were traded last week in 38 deals compared to 7,900 units valued at N1.8 million transacted in 38 deals during the preceding week.
Similarly, 61,682 units of bonds worth N63.3 million were traded in eight deals compared with a total of 57,971 units valued at N59.3 million transacted in 15 deals within the same period.
On the price movement chart, the equities market witnessed a sustained bullish trend across sectors, as investors continue to cherry-pick stocks with attractive dividend yields ahead of 2021 full-year dividend declarations.
Notably, bargain hunting in Seplat (+10.1 per cent), Presco (+7.6 per cent), GTCO (+7.2 per cent), MTNN (+5.4 per cent) and Dangote Cement (+5.5 per cent) drove the weekly gain.
Consequently, the All-Share Index and market capitalisation appreciated by 2.33 per cent to close the week at 47,279.92 and N25.477 trillion respectively.
Similarly, all other indices finished higher except NGX Insurance and NGX Consumer Goods indices, which depreciated by 1.93 per cent and 0.81 per cent while the NGX ASem, and NGX Sovereign bond indices closed flat.
42 equities recorded price appreciation last week, lower than 44 equities in the preceding week. 35 equities depreciated, higher than 33 equities in the preceding week.
