SAT 12 MARCH, 2022-theGBJournal- The Nigerian equities market closed in the green territory amid bouts of profit-taking. Specifically, gains in PRESCO (+19.6%), GTCO (+3.9%), INTBREW (+4.0%), and OKOMUOIL (+3.7%) stocks pushed the All-Share Index higher by 0.4% to 47,437.48 points.
A total turnover of 2.798 billion shares worth N23.859 billion in 22,970 deals was traded this week by investors on the floor of the Exchange, in contrast to a total of 1.374 billion shares valued at N23.786 billion that exchanged hands last week in 28,809 deals, according to NGX Exchange data.
Trading in the top three equities namely FCMB Group Plc, Unity Bank Plc, and FBN Holdings Plc (measured by volume) accounted for 1.633 billion shares worth N5.486 billion in 1,395 deals, contributing 58.36% and 22.99% to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
Based on the preceding, the MTD return turned positive +0.1%, while the YTD return increased to +11.1%. Activity levels mirrored the overall market’s board gauge as trading volumes surged by 103.7% w/w while trading value edged up by 0.3% w/w.
Performance across sectors was mixed, as the Insurance (+2.7%) and Banking (+1.3%) indices recorded gains, while the Oil and Gas (-2.2%), Consumer Goods (-0.5%), and Industrial Goods (-0.1%) indices closed in the red.
The Financial Services Industry (measured by volume) led the activity chart with 2.398 billion shares valued at N14.030 billion traded in 11,900 deals; thus contributing 85.69% and 58.80% to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
The Conglomerates Industry followed with 73.381 million shares worth N305.944 million in 996 deals. The third place was The Consumer Goods Industry, with a turnover of 60.832 million shares worth N3.087 billion in 2,707 deals
We expect market performance to be dominated by the bulls in the week ahead, as we expect yield-seeking investors to take positions in stocks with attractive dividend yields amid the negative real returns in the fixed income market.
However, we do not rule out intermittent profit-taking activities. 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.
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