Equities market sustains positive trend with N182bn investors gain

The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) equities market ended last week on a strong bullish run to record three consecutive weeks of positive trades.

Specifically, trading activities on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) made gains for five straight days as the All-Share Index and market capitalisation both appreciated by 1.41 per cent to close the week at 25,041.89 basis points and N13.063 trillion respective. Thus investors gained N181.62 billion on a week to week basis.

The bullish sentiment was an extension of the previous week’s uptrend as market made five straight sessions of gains, with trading for the period opening on a positive note at 0.29 per cent.

This was sustained for the rest of the week, with the index gaining 0.31, 0.16, 0.19 and 0.41 percentile respectively on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, bringing the week’s total gain to 1.41 per cent, which surpassed previous week’s 0.99 per cent rise.

The performance index across the sectors was positive, except for the NSE Insurance which closed 0.28 per cent lower, while the NSE Banking index led advancers after gaining 4.94 per cent, followed by the NSE Oil/Gas, Consumer and Industrial goods that closed 4.81 per cent, 0.72 per cent and 0.10 per cent higher respectively.

Activities during the week, in terms of volume and value, were up by 154.76 per cent and 102.25 per cent respectively as investors traded 1.07 billion shares worth N10.80 billion from the previous week’s 421.98 million units valued at N5.34 billion. The week’s volume was boosted by trades in financial services, conglomerates and industrial goods stocks, especially FBN Holdings, UACN, Access Bank, Transcorp and Lafarge Africa.

Neimeth Pharm and UACN Property were the best-performing stocks after gaining 21.38 per cent and 18.52 per cent respectively, closing at N1.82 and N0.96 per share on positive Q3 earnings ahead of full-year results and market forces.

On the flip side, UACN and Total Nigeria lost 11.43 per cent and 9.91 per cent respectively, closing at N6.20 and N79.19 per share on weak earnings, the inconsistent statement and selloffs on negative numbers respectively.

“Our view continues to favour cautious trading as risks remain on the horizon due to a combination of the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in Nigeria and weak economic conditions. Thus, we continue to advise investors to seek trading opportunities in only fundamentally justified stocks,” Cordros Research analysts explained.