SAT. 10 DEC, 2022-theGBJournal| In the last trading session of the day, Nigerian equities staged a rebound, recouping the prior session loss as the benchmark index closed 1.07% stronger to settle at 48,881.93 points, the highest point since 05 October.
All other indices finished higher with the exception of NGX CG, NGX Premium, NGX Banking, NGX Pension, NGX AFR Bank Value, NGX AFR Div Yield, NGX MERI Growth, NGX MERI Value and NGX Sovereign Bond indices which depreciated by 0.91%, 1.23%, 0.25%, 0.39%, 1.53%, 0.79%, 0.79%, 0.21% and 0.01% respectively, while the NGX Growth and NGX ASeM indices closed flat.
A total turnover of 1.225 billion shares worth N15.243 billion in 15,317 deals was traded this week by investors on the floor of the Exchange, in contrast to a total of 839.978 million shares valued at N12.418 billion that exchanged hands last week in 16,183 deals, according to NGX Exchange Limited data.
Trading in the top three equities namely UPDC Real Estate Investment Trust, FBN Holdings Plc and Transnational Corporation Plc (measured by volume) accounted for 765.230 million shares worth N4.282 billion in 847 deals, contributing 62.47% and 28.09% to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
Sustained gains in industrial heavyweight BUACEMENT (+9.17%) and ZENITHBANK (+0.23%) pushed the broader index into the positive terrain.
Having gained in four out of five trading sessions this week, the ASI closed 1.51% higher w/w, its fourth consecutive weekly growth.
During the week, strong performances across BUACEMENT (+19.09% w/w), NESTLE (+1.67% w/w) and UBA (+1.37% w/w) were sufficient to offset the losses in MTNN (-2.27% w/w), ZENITHBANK (-2.86% w/w) and GTCO (-1.87%).
As a result, the year-to-date (YTD) return rose to 14.43%, while the market capitalization gained N396.13bn w/w to close at N26.62trn.
Analysis of today’s market activities showed trade turnover settled lower relative to the previous session, with the value of transactions down by 61.63%. A total of 100.82m shares valued at N1.14bn were exchanged in 2,440 deals.
STERLNBANK (+1.46%) led the volume chart with 34.19m units traded while MTNN (+0.00%) led the value chart in deals worth N403.78m.
Market breadth closed positive at a 1.63-to-1 ratio with advancing issues outnumbering declining ones.
BUACEMENT (+9.17%) led twelve others on the leader’s table while UNITYBNK (-9.26%) topped seven others on the laggard’s log.
Meanwhile, global stocks posted mixed performances as stronger-than-expected US producer price data stoked worries that the Federal Reserve will keep its monetary policy tighter for longer.
The US equities (DJIA: -1.9%; S&P 500: -2.7%) reversed last week’s gains as investors weighed the likelihood of an economic downturn.
Likewise, European stocks (STOXX Europe: -1.8% and FTSE 100: -1.3%) were on track for a weekly loss as investors assessed the possibility of a recession and the likelihood of a prolonged rate hike cycle from the Federal Reserve.
Asian markets posted positive performances as the Japanese (Nikkei 225: +0.4%) and Chinese (SSE: +1.6%) equities edged higher, supported by renewed optimism about China’s economic growth following measures to ease its zero-Covid policy.
Elsewhere, the Emerging market (MSCI EM: -0.5%) mirrored the downbeat mood across global stocks, consequent upon losses in Taiwan (-1.8%), while the Frontier market (MSCI FM: 0.0%) was unchanged amid bearish sentiments in the Vietnamese (-2.6%) market.
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