SAT 19 FEB, 2022-theGBJournal- The NGX All-Share Index and Market Capitalization depreciated by 0.13% and 0.12% to close the week at 47,140.48 and N25.406 trillion respectively, according to NGX Exchange data.
All other indices finished higher with the exception of NGX Premium, NGX Banking, NGX AFR Bank value, NGX Oil & Gas and NGX Industrial Goods which depreciated by 0.29%, 0.74%, 0.86%, 3.45%, and 0.32% respectively while the NGX Main Board, NGX Asem, NGX Growth and NGX Sovereign Bond Indices closed flat.
A total turnover of 1.713 billion shares worth N30.764 billion in 24,767 deals was traded by investors, in contrast to a total of 1.331 billion shares valued at N22.700 billion that exchanged hands last week in 27,822 deals
The performance underscored the keenly contested battle between the bulls and the bears as mixed sentiments dominated trading activities on the local bourse.
Notably, profit-taking in SEPLAT (-5.9%), GTCO (-1.5%), ACCESS (-1.4%), AIRTELAFRI (-0.9%) and DANGCEM (-0.5%) drove the weekly loss. Accordingly, the MTD and YTD return settled at +1.1% and +10.4%, respectively.
Trading in the top three equities namely Access Bank Plc, Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc and Fidelity Bank Plc, (measured by volume) accounted for 500.778 million shares worth N7.455 billion in 3,603 deals, contributing 29.23% and 24.23% to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
Activity levels were stronger than in the prior week, as trading volumes and value rose by 28.7% w/w and 35.5% w/w, respectively. Performance across sectors was mixed, as the Consumer Goods (+2.3%) and Insurance (+1.0%) indices posted gains, while the Oil and Gas (-3.4%), Banking (-0.7%) and Industrial Goods (-0.3%) indices closed in the red.
The Financial Services Industry (measured by volume) led the activity chart with 1.064 billion shares valued at N12.201 billion traded in 11,708 deals; thus contributing 62.14% and 39.66% to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively. The Consumer Goods Industry followed with 156.077 million shares worth N5.004 billion in 4,877 deals. The third place was The Conglomerates Industry, with a turnover of 113.554 million shares worth N309.833 million in 1,062 deals.
In the coming weeks, we expect the NGX floor to be flooded with corporate earnings as more companies publish their audited 2021FY numbers, accompanied by dividend declarations.
‘’We believe this would provide a catalyst for buying activities even as risk-averse investors are likely to remain cautious due to medium-term expectations of an uptick in FI yields. Overall, we advise investors to seek trading opportunities in only fundamentally justified stocks as the weak macro story remains a significant headwind for corporate earnings,’’ says analysts at Cordros Research.
Meanwhile, Global stocks posted mixed performances this week as concerns over an imminent policy tightening cycle from the Fed and geopolitical tensions weighed on investors’ sentiments. Consequently, U.S (DJIA: -1.2%: S&P 500: -0.9%) stocks were set to end the week in red amid renewed concerns over the ongoing geopolitical tensions between Russia and Ukraine.
In Europe, the STOXX Europe (-1.1%) and FTSE 100 (-1.6%) were poised to end the week in red as investors shifted to defensive sectors and safe havens whilst maintaining their gaze on the spat between Russia and Ukraine.
In Asia, the Nikkei 225 (-2.1%) mirrored the downbeat mood on Wall street as fears over a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine continued to dampen sentiment. Conversely, the SSE (+0.8%) posted a weekly gain as investors reacted positively to augmented efforts to contain omicron spread amid hopes for easing in Russia-Ukraine tensions.
Emerging (MSCI EM: +0.2%) market stocks posted gains consequent to the positive sentiments in China (+0.8%), while Frontier (MSCI FM: -0.2%) market stocks declined, following weakness in the Nigerian market (-0.1%).
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