SAT, 07 NOV, 2020-theGBJournal- 2.067 billion shares worth N22.636 billion in 25,187 deals exchanged hands this week at the stock market. The bullish momentum in the local bourse lost steam as investors took a breather to digest corporate earnings released thus far.
In terms of activity levels, volume grew by 8.2% w/w while value declined 4.1% w/w. Supported by gains on the second (+0.8%) and last trading (+0.9%) days, the All-Share Index crawled above the 31,000 points psychological mark, closing at 31,016.17 points.
All other indices finished higher with the exception of the NSE-Main Board, NSE Insurance and NSE Oil/Gas which depreciated by 0.62%, 1.32% and 0.77% respectively while the NSE ASeM Index that closed flat.
Notably, investors’ interest in DANGCEM (+9.1%), DANGSUGAR (+19.6%), and GUARANTY (+3.1%) drove the benchmark index 1.6% higher, its seventh-consecutive weekly gain. The MTD return stood at 1.6% while the YTD return for index grew to 15.6%.
Performance across sectors was broadly positive. Save for the Oil and Gas (-0.8%) which declined, the Industrial (+2.9%), Banking (+2.2%), Insurance (+1.3%) and Consumer Goods (+0.6%) indices closed in the green.
Trading in the top three equities namely Access Bank Plc, FBN Holding Plc and Zenith Bank Plc (measured by volume) accounted for 686.338 million shares worth N7.599 billion in 4,557 deals, contributing 33.21% and 33.57% to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
As the Q3 earnings season winds down, we expect investors to shift their attention to yet to be published results from the big banks (FUGAZ) in the week ahead. In the short term, we still see scope for expansion in valuation multiples as hunt for alpha-yielding opportunities in the face of increasingly negative real returns in the fixed income market remain positive for stocks. However, we advise investors to take positions in only fundamentally justified stocks as the weak macro environment remains a significant headwind for corporate earnings.
Twitter-@theGBJournal|email: info@govandbusinessjournal.com.ng
