SAT, SEPT 09 2023-theGBJournal |Market sentiment recovered by the end of the week’s trading amid bargain hunting and after a shaky start.
Bargain hunting on BUAFOODS (+5.4%), ZENITHBANK (+7.4%) and DANGSUGAR (+6.0%) supported market performance. As a result, the All-Share index advanced by 0.9% higher to 68,143.34 points, pushing the MTD and YTD gains to +2.4% and +33.0%, respectively.
All other indices finished higher with the exception of NGX Insurance, NGX Oil & Gas, NGX Industrial Goods, NGX Growth and NGX Sovereign Bond indices which depreciated by 2.94%, 0.12%, 0.49%, 2.28%, and 0.46% respectively while the NGX ASeM index closed flat.
Similarly, activity levels were stronger, as trading volume and value grew by 5.3% w/w and 38.5% w/w, respectively.
Elsewhere, sectoral performance was mixed as the Banking (+5.5%) and Consumer Goods (+2.2%) indices gained, while the Insurance (-2.9%), Industrial Goods (-0.5%) and Oil and Gas (-0.1%) indices recorded losses.
FIDELITYBK’s improved dividend, rising from N0.10 to N0.25, played a role in propelling the banking sector.
Additionally, GTCO announced H1 results that showcased a substantial 3.6x increase in PAT and an interim dividend of N0.50, compared to N0.30 in H1’22. As a reflection of this positive momentum, there were 56 advancers as opposed to 28 decliners, resulting in a market breadth of 2.00x.
Overall, a total turnover of 2.644 billion shares worth N45.450 billion in 44,189 deals was traded this week by investors on the floor of the Exchange, in contrast to a total of 2.510 billion shares valued at N32.816 billion that exchanged hands last week in 40,736 deals.
Trading in the top three equities namely Oando Plc, Fidelity Bank Plc and United Bank for Africa Plc (measured by volume) accounted for 732.276 million shares worth N7.148 billion in 7,020 deals, contributing 27.70% and 15.73% to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
Analysts say they expect a positive start to the next session.
Meanwhile, global equities space gave up early gains in the week as investors priced in the (1) weak Chinese export data (August: -8.8% | July: -14.5%), (2) higher treasury bond yields, and (3) fresh concerns of inflationary pressures in the US.
Accordingly, bearish sentiments dominated trading in the US (DJIA: -1.0%; S&P 500: -1.4%) as investors’ fear of US Fed tightening weighed on market sentiments. Likewise, European equities (STOXX Europe: -1.0%; FTSE 100: -0.3%) recorded losses following worries about slowing global growth coupled with the lower-than-expected Eurozone GDP.
Meanwhile, Asian markets (Nikkei 225: -0.3%; SSE: -0.5%) mirrored the losses in the US as investors reacted to the release of Japan’s Q2-23 revised GDP data amid the cancellation of trading in Hong Kong due to a storm warning.
Finally, the Emerging (MSCI EM: -1.2%) and Frontier (MSCI FM: -0.5%) market indices declined following bearish sentiments in Iceland (-2.9%) and Brazil (-1.6%), respectively.
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