…Market breadth remained weak at 0.21x, with 66 decliners surpassing 14 gainers.
…GTCO held the top spot as the most traded stock by volume for the week with 122.42 million units
SAT, FEB 24 2024-theGBJournal|The Nigerian equities market wrapped up the week on a somber tone, experiencing four negative sessions out of five, as investors adjusted their portfolios towards the fixed-income market due to higher yields.
The ASI took a hit, shedding 344bps week-on-week and 72bps day-on-day to settle at 102,088.30 points.
Major market drivers in Friday’s session were GTCO (-1.14%), ZENITHBANK (-1.26%) and ACCESSCORP (-0.48%), shaking off the gains in FBNH (+6.90%) and BUAFOODS (+6.27%).
Additionally, the year-to-date return improved by 36.53% while market capitalization settled at N55.87 trillion (vs. N55.47 trillion the previous day).
However, market breadth remained weak at 0.21x, with 66 decliners surpassing 14 gainers.
Further buttressing the bearish performance of the market, volume and value traded down 15.04% and 25.23% week-on-week to close at 291.01 million units and N6.02 billion.
GTCO held the top spot as the most traded stock by volume for the week with 122.42 million units, succeeded by FBNH with 112.32 million units and TRANSCORP with 108.85 million units.
For the top valued equities of the week, GTCO dominated the board, with GEREGU and FBNH in tow.
Next week, analysts anticipate cautious trading in stocks due to uncertainty surrounding the upcoming MPC meeting scheduled for 26 and 27 February.
”We expect limited bargain-hunting activity in the near term due to prevailing negative sentiments driven by movements in fixed income market yields and uninspiring earnings releases,” says Cordros Research.
Meanwhile, corporate earnings took center stage in the global equities markets as investors shrugged off expectations of a longer wait till US Fed rate cuts.
Additionally, sentiments were buoyed by increased bets on Chinese stimulus and enthusiasm surrounding artificial intelligence (AI) firms.
Accordingly, US equities (DJIA: +1.1%; S&P 500: +1.6%) edged higher as Nvidia’s upbeat results and strong sales outlook for Q1-24 provided fresh momentum for an AI-led rally in tech stocks.
European equities (STOXX Europe: +0.7%; FTSE 100: -0.4%) were mixed as investors weighed better-than-expected Eurozone PMI data and mixed corporate earnings.
Meanwhile, Asian markets (Nikkei 225: +1.6%; SSE: +4.8%) were broadly upbeat, with the Japanese market buoyed by (1) more robust corporate earnings, a weaker yen benefiting exporters and increased foreign investors’ interest.
Similarly, the Chinese market surpassed the 3,000-point mark, boosted by government measures to stimulate economic growth and restore market confidence, such as a larger-than-expected benchmark mortgage rate cut to boost housing demand.
The Emerging market (MSCI EM: +1.3%) and Frontier market (MSCI FM: +1.0%) indices traded positively, driven by gains in China (+4.8%) and Vietnam (+1.0%), respectively.
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The Nigerian equities market wrapped up the week on a somber tone, experiencing four negative sessions out of five
