The Nigerian equities market closed the week ended Friday on a bullish note, with total market capitalisation crossing the N159tn threshold as investor appetite strengthened across key trading segments.
Powered by heavy buying in tier-one banking stocks, the capitalisation of listed equities rose by N2.53tn, a 1.61 per cent weekly gain, to settle at N159.588tn, up from N157.058tn a week earlier. The benchmark NGX All-Share Index advanced 1.60 per cent to close at 247,357.40 points.
Trading activity pointed to a marked injection of liquidity. Investors exchanged 4.433bn shares valued at N306.143bn in 255,589 deals, a sharp jump from the 2.819bn shares worth N182.499bn traded in 226,729 deals the previous week.
The Financial Services sector anchored overall turnover, generating 3.422bn shares worth N207.206bn in 117,545 deals, which represented 77.18 per cent of total equity volume and 67.68 per cent of total value for the week.
Activity was concentrated in three banking counters, First Holdco Plc, Access Holdings Plc and Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc, which together accounted for 2.151bn shares worth N170.793bn in 44,768 deals, close to half of total market volume. The NGX Banking Index surged 8.35 per cent and the NGX Premium Index gained 4.00 per cent, though the NGX Consumer Goods Index shed 3.76 per cent and the NGX Growth Index fell sharply by 20.24 per cent.
Market breadth favoured the bulls, with 57 equities appreciating against 38 decliners and 31 that closed flat. UPDC Real Estate Investment Trust topped the gainers after rising 33.33 per cent to N14.20, followed by First Holdco Plc, which climbed 25.59 per cent to N120.50.
On the downside, MeCure Industries Plc led the decliners after dropping 26.97 per cent to N62.40, while heavyweights BUA Foods Plc, Presco Plc and Nestle Nigeria Plc each lost 10.00 per cent over the five sessions on selective profit-taking.
Analysts linked the rally to stabilising foreign exchange liquidity, sustained disinflation and heightened institutional participation ahead of half-year corporate earnings. They expect sentiment to stay cautiously optimistic as more tier-one companies release audited Q2 and half-year results, though periodic profit-taking may surface in high-cap banking counters after the recent steep gains.
Source: Punch.
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