SAT, JAN 27 2024-theGBJournal|Nigerian stocks closed out the week’s trading on positive note, and extended its winning streak for the fourth consecutive week.
Buy interests on Friday in Tier-1 banks namely, ZENITHBANK (+0.35%), GTCO (+0.34%), and UBA (+0.66%) offset selloffs in TRANSCORP (-2.94%), NB (-2.03%) and INTBREW (-3.99%) keeping the market in the positive terrain.
Having gained in all trading sessions this week, the ASI finished 8.32% higher w/w to close at a record high of 102,401.88 points. Market Capitalization equally rose to N56.038 trillion.
Similarly, all other indices finished higher with the exception of NGX Banking, NGX Insurance, NGX AFR Bank Value, NGX MERI Growth, NGX Growth and NGX Sovereign Bond which depreciated by 1.63%, 4.10%, 2.36%, 3.71%, 1.38%, and 0.68% respective while the NGX ASeM index closed flat
The week’s performance took the Year-to-Date return to +36.9%.
Overall, a total turnover of 2.981 billion shares worth N57.873 billion in 67,962 deals was traded this week by investors on the floor of the Exchange, in contrast to a total of 5.179 billion shares valued at N77.797 billion that exchanged hands last week in 79,012 deals.
The Financial Services Industry (measured by volume) led the activity chart with 1.863 billion shares valued at N26.774 billion traded in 29,276 deals; thus contributing 62.50% and 46.26% to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
The Conglomerates Industry followed with 309.432 million shares worth N5.201 billion in 5,882 deals. The third place was the Oil and Gas Industry, with a turnover of 259.223 million shares worth N4.892 billion in 5,658 deals
Trading in the top three equities namely Transnational Corporation Plc, United Bank for Africa Plc and Sterling Financial Holdings Company Plc (measured by volume) accounted for 686.291 million shares worth N12.943 billion in 9,490 deals, contributing 23.02% and 22.36% to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
With the commencement of the 2023FY earnings season, the NGX is expected to be flooded with corporate earnings in the coming weeks as companies publish unaudited 2023FY numbers with accompanying dividend declarations.
This, analysts say should provide a catalyst for buying activities and outweigh profit-taking activities.
Meanwhile, Global stocks climbed higher this week, supported by positive corporate earnings and economic data from Europe and the United States. Optimism surrounding China’s stimulus measures also contributed to the positive sentiment.
Accordingly, US equities (DJIA: +0.5%; S&P 500: +1.1%) edged higher, driven by (1) better-than-expected Q4-23 GDP growth, (2) strong PMI readings, and (3) a rally in tech stocks.
Similarly, European equities (STOXX Europe: +2.3%; FTSE 100: +1.6%) recorded gains as investors digested the (1) European Central Bank’s latest decision to leave policy rates unchanged and (2) positive corporate earnings.
Elsewhere, Asian markets (Nikkei 225: -0.6%; SSE: +2.8%) remained mixed, as hawkish signals from the Bank of Japan spurred profit-taking activities in the Japanese market. Meanwhile, the Chinese market rebounded from a three-week rout, driven by positive reactions to the People’s Bank of China’s announcement to cut banks’ reserve-requirement ratio to spur economic growth.
The Emerging market (MSCI EM: +1.8 %) index posted a gain supported by the positive sentiment in China (+2.8%), while the Frontier (MSCI FM: -0.3%) market declined following the loss in Vietnam (-0.5%).
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