SAT. 25 MARCH 2023-theGBJournal | 1.689 billion shares worth N11.066 billion in 14,019 deals was traded this week by investors on the floor of the Exchange, according to NGX Exchange Limited data. This is in contrast to a total of 853.745 million shares valued at N11.841 billion that exchanged hands last week in 18,543 deals.
Trading in the top three equities namely Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals Plc, Transnational Corporation Plc and United Bank for Africa Plc, (measured by volume) accounted for 1.248 billion shares worth N2.347 billion in 1,102 deals, contributing 73.89% and 21.21% to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
In the last trading session of the week, the domestic bourse extended losses as the All-Share Index declined by 0.06% to close at 54,892.53 points.
Bearish sentiments in market heavyweight, BUACEMENT (-1.61%) alongside ZENITHBANK (-0.60%), and GTCO (-0.99%) drove the market plunge. Having lost in three of five trading sessions this week, the ASI closed 0.04% lower w/w, extending losses for the second consecutive week.
Over the course of the week, BUACEMENT (-1.61% w/w), NB (-4.52% w/w) and STANBIC (-5.76% w/w) were the major drivers of the week’s loss outweighing gains in ZENITHBANK (+1.42% w/w), GTCO (+1.22% w/w), and WAPCO (+3.39% w/w).
As a result, the ASI year-to-date (YTD) return fell to 7.11%, while the market capitalization shed N12.45bn w/w to close at N29.90trn.
Analysis of today’s market activities showed trade turnover settled higher relative to the previous session, with the value of transactions up by 176.91%. A total of 137.56m shares valued at N3.87bn were exchanged in 2,912 deals. FIDELITY (+0.00%) led the volume chart with 21.48m units traded, while MTNN (+0.00%) led the value chart in deals worth N980.10m.
Market breadth closed positive at a 1.09-to-1 ratio with advancing issues outnumbering declining ones. GEREGU (+6.25%) topped eleven others on the leader’s log, while AIICO (-5.00%) led ten others on the laggard’s table.
Market highlights
| Indicators | Current | Change (%) | YTD |
| All-Share Index | 54,892.53 | -0.06 | +7.11 |
| Market Cap. (N ‘trillion) | 29.90 | -0.06 | +7.12 |
| Volume (millions) | 137.56 | +16.72 | |
| Value (N ‘billion) | 3.87 | +176.71 |
Global stocks edged higher as investors welcomed dovish remarks from US Treasury Secretary, Janet Yellen who reassured investors that regulators would be prepared to take additional steps to keep deposits safe.
US equities (DJIA: +0.8%; S&P 500: +0.8%) were on track to close the week positively. Similarly, European equities (STOXX Europe: +2.3%; FTSE 100: +2.2%) edged higher on easing fears of a fresh financial crisis. In Asia, the Japanese equities (Nikkei 225: +0.2%) mirrored the positive sentiments on Wall Street.
Meanwhile, Chinese equities (SSE: +0.5%) advanced as stronger-than-expected results from Tencent Holdings boosted investors’ confidence about the outlook for corporate earnings.
The Emerging (MSCI EM: +2.8%) and Frontier (MSCI FM: +1.3%) market indices mirrored the bullish sentiments across global stocks consequent upon gains in China (+0.5%) and Vietnam (+0.1%), respectively.
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