SAT, 30 JULY, 2022-theGBJournal| Snapping eight successive losing sessions, Nigerian equities staged a late recovery Friday as the All-Share index closed 1.42% stronger to settle at 50,370.25 points.
The bulls overcame the bears as rebounds in telco heavyweight, MTNN (+5.32%) and Tier-1 banks, ZENITHBANK (+9.52%), GTCO (+5.03%) and ACCESSCORP (+5.88%) pushed the broader index into positive terrain. Having gained in one of five trading sessions this week, the ASI closed 3.10% lower w/w – the biggest weekly loss since the week ended 03 April 2020 – extending losses for the second consecutive week.
A total turnover of 1.546 billion shares worth N16.289 billion in 23,873 deals was traded this week by investors on the floor of the Exchange, in contrast to a total of 917.190 million shares valued at N14.803 billion that exchanged hands last week in 19,513 deals.
Trading in the top three equities namely International Energy Insurance Plc, Transcorp Hotels Plc and Zenith Bank Plc (measured by volume) accounted for 798.900 million shares worth N2.602 billion in 3,110 deals, contributing 51.69% and 15.98% to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
Over the course of the week, index heavyweights, MTNN (-12.62% w/w) and NESTLE (-9.84% w/w) were the major drags on the market’s performance. In addition, STANBIC (-9.98% w/w), NB (-4.12% w/w) and GTCO (-4.34% w/w) contributed to keep the broader index in the red. Consequently, the year-to-date (YTD) return fell to 17.92%, while the market capitalization shed ₦868.03bn w/w to close at N27.16trn.
Analysis of Friday’s market activities showed trade turnover settled lower relative to the previous session, with the value of transactions decreasing by 28.29%. A total of 254.77m shares valued at N2.81bn were exchanged in 4,905 deals. LIVINGTRUST (+0.00%) led the volume chart with 50.00m units traded, while FLOURMILL (+0.00%) led the value chart in deals worth N575.08m.
Market breadth closed positive at a 1.92-to-1 ratio with advancing issues outnumbering declining ones. UBN (+10.00%) led twenty-four (24) others on the leader’s table, while PZ (-9.57%) topped twelve (12) others on the laggard’s log.
key highlights of market activities.
| Indicators | Current | Change (%) | YTD |
| All-Share Index | 50,370.25 | +1.42 | +17.92 |
| Market Cap. (N ‘trillion) | 27.16 | +1.42 | +21.82 |
| Volume (millions) | 254.77 | +23.55 | |
| Value (N ‘billion) | 2.81 | -28.29 | |
Meanwhile, this week, global stocks were broadly positive as investors’ sentiments were shaped by impressive corporate earnings and the expectation that the Fed would reduce the pace of tightening following weaker US GDP growth.
Accordingly, US (S&P 500: +2.8% and DJIA: +2.0%) stocks were set for another weekly gain, supported by the rally in tech stocks after earnings releases from Amazon (AMAZN) and Apple (AAPL). European (STOXX Europe: +2.6% and FTSE 100: +1.4%) equities were also on course for a positive close, as investors reacted to corporate earnings and positive economic/GDP data from countries in the Eurozone area.
However, the Asian markets (Nikkei 225: -0.4%; SSE -0.5%) posted negative performances, as the strengthening of Japanese yen against the greenback undermined market performance, and major Chinese tech shares (Alibaba & Meituan) were pressured following the downbeat economic growth assessment from China’s top leaders and a lack of new stimulus policies. Elsewhere, the Frontier (MSCI FM: +1.0%) and Emerging (MSCI EM: +0.7%) markets advanced due to the bullish sentiments in Kuwait (+0.4%) and South Korea (+2.4%), respectively.
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