SAT. 11 MARCH 2023-theGBJournal | The NGX Exchange data shows that a total turnover of 1.023 billion shares worth N20.221 billion in 18,650 deals was traded this week by investors on the floor of the Exchange, in contrast to a total of 1.910 billion shares valued at N18.436 billion that exchanged hands last week in 20,311 deals.
Trading in the top three equities namely Transnational Corporation Plc, Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc and BUA Cement Plc. (measured by volume) accounted for 447.809 million shares worth N9.556 billion in 2,018 deals, contributing 43.76% and 47.26% to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
Meanwhile, in the last trading session of the week, the domestic bourse reversed some of the week’s gains, bringing the All-Share Index down by 5bps to close at 55,794.51 points.
Selloffs in ZENITHBANK (-0.77%) and WAPCO (-0.19%) drove the market’s overall performance.
Having gained in three of five trading sessions this week, the ASI closed 0.48% higher w/w, extending gains for the third consecutive week.
Over the course of the week, MTNN (+1.35% w/w), OKOMU (+1.27% w/w) and GUINNESS (+1.45% w/w) led the market’s gains. On the flip side, ZENITHBANK (-3.01% w/w), WAPCO (-2.22% w/w) and NB (-0.97% w/w) contributed to roil the overall market. Consequently, the year-to-date (YTD) rose to 8.87%, while the market capitalization gained N144.96bn w/w to close at N30.39trn.
Analysis of today’s market activities showed trade turnover settled higher relative to the previous session, with the value of transactions up by 177.84%. A total of 276.04m shares valued at N8.59bn were exchanged in 3,467 deals. TRANSCORP (+0.00%) led the volume chart with 87.37m units traded while BUACEMENT (+0.00%) led the value chart in deals worth N7.05bn.
Market breadth closed negative at a 3.40-to-1 ratio, with declining issues outnumbering advancing ones. CONOIL (-9.95%) topped sixteen (16) others on the laggard’s log, while NGXGROUP (+7.26%) led four others on the leader’s table.
The hawkish rhetoric from Federal Reserve Chairman, Jerome Powell, rattled global markets this week, as the Chairman signaled higher projections for the Fed funds rate in the year, than initial market expectations.
US equities (DJIA: -3.4%; S&P 500: -3.1%) recorded huge losses as a rout in tech-industry lender – SVB Financial Group – sparked selloffs across banking stocks.
Likewise, European equities (STOXX Europe: -0.9%; FTSE 100: -0.8%) fell as worries ahead of the US jobs report and weakness in the banking sector outweighed better-than-expected UK GDP data.
Similarly, in Asia, Chinese equities (SSE: -3.0%) declined due to concerns over the outlook for China’s technology sector.
Meanwhile, Japanese equities (Nikkei 225: +0.8%) outperformed peers following expectations that the Bank of Japan will maintain its ultra-accommodative stance in the near term. Elsewhere, the Emerging (MSCI EM: -2.0%) market index dipped consequent upon selloffs in China (-3.0%) while the Frontier (MSCI FM: +0.2%) market index edged higher following gains in Vietnam (+2.4%).
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