…Market Capitalization now at N51.735 trillion
SAT, JAN 20 2024-theGBJournal|The Nigerian equities market sustained its bullish momentum for the third consecutive week, as the bourse recorded gains on all trading days.
Accordingly, the All-Share Index surpassed the 90,000 points mark, driven by robust investors’ interest in diverse stocks across the Industrial, Insurance, Oil & Gas, and Consumer Goods sectors.
More specifically, bargain hunting on DANGCEM (+53.9%) and BUACEMENT (+45.8%) spurred a 13.8% increase in the benchmark index to 94,538.12 points – the highest level on record.
Market Capitalization touched N51.735 trillion while all other indices finished higher with the exception of NGX Banking which depreciated by 0.12% as the NGX ASeM index closed flat.
Consequently, the Year-to-Date return surged to +26.4%. However, trading activity weakened compared to the previous week, with the total traded volume and value decreasing by 9.4% and 12.4%, respectively.
From a sectoral standpoint, the Industrial Goods (+46.9%) index recorded the most significant weekly gain, followed by the Insurance (+14.9%), Oil and Gas (+8.8%) and Consumer Goods (+8.2%) indices. The Banking (-0.1%) index was the sole loser for the week.
In the short term, we expect market performance to be dominated by the bulls, as positioning for 2023FY earnings releases and accompanying dividends declarations should outweigh profit-taking activities.
For global markets, sentiments turned sour following lacklustre economic (GDP) data from China and growing uncertainty about the prospective timing of rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.
Accordingly, US equities (DJIA: -0.3%; S&P 500: -0.1%) retreated this week after robust US retail sales data cast fresh doubts on the possibility of a Federal Reserve rate cut in March.
Likewise, European equities (STOXX Europe: -1.3%; FTSE 100: -2.2%) continued its losing streak for the third consecutive week on growing concerns that major central banks, particularly the Federal Reserve, will agree to early interest rate cuts amid sticky inflation.
Elsewhere, mixed sentiments prevailed in Asian markets (Nikkei 225: +1.1%; SSE: -1.7%) as Japan’s slowing inflation and hopes of a switch to an accommodative monetary policy stance drove the Japanese market higher.
Conversely, the Chinese market sustained its third consecutive weekly loss as investors expressed concerns about China’s bleak economic outlook fueled by disappointing economic reports and indications that authorities would refrain from implementing substantial stimulus measures to spur growth.
Lastly, the Emerging (MSCI EM: -3.5 %) market mirrored the downtrend across major global stocks following losses in China (-1.7%) and India (-1.2%). On the other hand, the Frontier (MSCI FM: +0.2%) market stayed in the positive territory, buoyed by bullish sentiments in Vietnam (+2.0%).
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