SAT 11 DEC, 2021-theGBJournal- A total turnover of 2.630 billion shares worth N26.900 billion in 20,848 deals were traded this week by investors on the floor of the Exchange, in contrast to a total of 1.278 billion shares valued at N17.340 billion that exchanged hands last week in 21,052 deals, according to NGX Exchange data.
Trading in the top three equities namely FBN Holdings Plc, Sterling Bank Plc and C & I Leasing Plc (measured by volume) accounted for 1.607 billion shares worth N14.751 billion in 1,646 deals, contributing 61.13% and 54.84% to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
However, the All-Share index closed the week 0.7% lower at 41,882.97 points, with the MTD and YTD return settling at -3.2% and +4.0%, respectively but activity levels were stronger than in the prior week, as trading volumes and value grew by 104.9% w/w and 54.9% w/w, respectively.
All other indices finished higher with the exception of NGX 30, NGX Premium, NGX Lotus II and NGX Industrial Goods indices which depreciated by 0.54%, 2.25%, 1.31% and 5.42% respectively while the NGX ASeM, NGX AFR Div Yield, and NGX Sovereign Bond Indices closed flat.
Sectoral performance was broadly positive as the Banking (+5.5%), Oil and Gas (+1.3%), Insurance (+1.2%), Industrial Goods (+0.9%), and Consumer Goods (+0.1%) indices all closed in the green.
The Financial Services Industry (measured by volume) led the activity chart with 2.234 billion shares valued at N21.449 billion traded in 11,482 deals; thus contributing 84.95% and 79.73% to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively. The Services Industry followed with 157.089 million shares worth N695.798 million in 465 deals. The third place was The Consumer Goods Industry, with a turnover of 71.016 million shares worth N1.708 billion in 3,019 deals.
In the week ahead, we expect the bulls to regain dominance in the market given the moderation in the prices of bellwether stocks in the last three weeks. However, we do not rule out the possibility of continued profit-taking activities.
In addition, we believe the outcome of the bond auction scheduled to hold during the week will also shape market sentiments. Notwithstanding, we advise investors to take positions in only fundamentally justified stocks as the unimpressive macro story remains a significant headwind for corporate earnings.
Global stocks were broadly positive following optimism on vaccines for the Omicron variant. Furthermore, the US inflation data released on Friday eased concerns about the Federal Reserve’s aggressive tightening of its monetary policy. In the US, the DJIA (+3.4%) and S&P 500 (+2.8%) halted two weeks of bearish trading as fears over the latest coronavirus variant abated.
European equities (STOXX 600: +2.7%, FTSE 100: +2.6%) were set for a weekly gain, boosted by a strong recovery in mining stocks. In Asia, the Nikkei 225: (+1.5%) closed the week positively on receding concerns about the Omicron variant. Similarly, the Chinese market (SSE: +1.6%) rallied as Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. led a rebound in Chinese tech firms earlier in the week.
Likewise, the Emerging (MSCI EM: +1.9%) and Frontier (MSCI FM: +0.7%) market stocks mirrored the bullish trend across global equities, consequent upon gains in China (+1.6%) and Kuwait (+1.3%), respectively.
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