Investors bank N350.1bn on price appreciation in Total, GTB, MTN
Anticipate bullish run this week, position ahead Q3 earnings
The domestic equities market opened last week bullish with 72 basis points and it maintained that throughout the 4 trading sessions that characterised the week. At the end of the week though, investors were all wearing a broad smile having seen value appreciation to the tune of N350.1 billion made possible by some significant price appreciation in three fundamentally good stocks, Total, Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) and MTN Nigeria.
This week, even as the market prepares to ring out for another trading week this Monday, investors are putting out an even more positive disposition, with a few of them saying they expect to see another bullish outing, more bargain hunting ahead of the Q3 corporate earnings releases by some companies.
The week is opening Monday with the All-Share index at 26,985.77 points, having risen 2.5 per cent week on week when the bell came down for the week’s trading on Friday. It followed price appreciation in Total Plc (+21.0%), Guaranty Trust Bank (+7.4%) and MTN Nigeria (+4.8%). Consequently, market capitalisation increased to N14.1 trillion as investors gained N350.1 billion. The year to date (YTD) return turned positive for the first time since February 26, 2020, closing the week at 0.5 per cent.
However, the activity level varied during the week as average volume traded advanced 6.3 per cent to 333.2 million units while average value traded weakened 6 per cent to N3.9 billion. Zenith Bank (337.6 million units), Sterling Bank (322.0 million units) and UBA (156.1 million units) were the most traded by volume, while Zenith Bank (N6.0 billion), Dangote Cement (N2.4 billion) and GTB (N1.7 billion) led by value.
On the other hand, market performance across sectors was bullish as all indices gained, save the Consumer Goods index which lost 0.7 per cent week on week, following sell-pressures in Nigerian Breweries (-6.8%). On the flip side, the Banking and Industrial Goods indices led the gainers, up 4.2 per cent and 3.2 per cent respectively due to
buying interest in Guaranty Trust Bank (+7.4%), Zenith Bank (+4.3%) and BUA Cement (+3.6%).
Similarly, the AFRICT and Oil & Gas indices closed 2.5 per cent and 1.8 per cent week on week
higher respectively and buoyed by gains in MTN (+4.8%), Total Plc (+21.0%) and OANDO (+12.8%). Lastly, the Insurance index rose 0.6 per cent following price appreciation in Custodian Insurance (+4.0%)
and AIICO (+9.7%).
The investor sentiment as measured by market breadth (advance/decline ratio) rose to 2.4x from the 1.3x recorded last week as 34 stocks gained against the 14 that lost. Total Plc
(+21.0%), OANDO (+12.8%) and Sterling Bank (+10.3%) were the top gainers while Cornerstone Insurance (-15.5%), University Press (-12.7%) and E-Transact (-10.0%) led the decliners.