Investors see N1trn profit windfall as market closes above 42,000 points First time in 10 months Analysts foretell positive sentiments to tickle down market as investors cherry pick
AFTER A BULLISH TRAD ING MONTH in the Nigerian equities market which saw market investors gain almost N1 trillion (N980 billion) in profit from the joyful earning season, market analysts at Vetiva Research, Afrinvest Research and FSDH Capital Limited have expressed that they expect the bullish performance to continue as investors’ price in the impressive earnings results and improved market sentiment as a result of economic rebound.
Similarly, as market investors continue to cherry pick on some of the attractive counters across board, positive sentiment is expected to spread round this week as profit taking will continue in some of the names that have recorded improvements and appreciations in recent sessions.
For the first time since January 2021, the benchmark index closed above the 42,000 index points as it continued its bullish performance through the last week in October to close at 42,038.60 points. In view of that, the NGX All-Share index inched higher by 0.66 percent week on week with a gain of N144 billion for investors in the week, while the market year to date return improved to 4.4 percent and market capitalisation rose to N21.93 trillion from N21.79 trillion as of the prior week close.
In the same manner, the level of market activity strengthened as the average traded volume and value traded improved 12.5 percent and 3.6 percent week on week to 3.0 billion units and N18.4 billion, respectively, from 21,621 deals.
The top traded stocks by volume last week were First Bank Holding (663.4 million units), Transnational Corporation (181.9 million units), and UBA (103.1 million units), while First Bank Holding (N8 billion), Nestle Nigeria (N1.2 billion), and Nigerian Breweries (N1 billion) led the top traded securities by value through last week.
Across the sectoral front last week, the performance was bullish as all indices closed positive with the insurance and oil & gas indices topping the gainers’ chart, up 5.3 percent and 4 percent week on week, respectively, due to the hunt for bargain in Aiico Insurance with 31.9 percent, Universal Insurance with 10 percent gains, TotalEnergies recording 17.5 percent gains, and Eterna Plc with 8.1 percent gains.
Following on the league table, the banking and consumer goods indices advanced 2.4 percent and 1.5 percent week on week, respectively, following price uptick in Ecobank International with 17.9 percent gains, UBA recorded gains of 2.4 percent, Guinness Nigeria Plc advanced 23.1 percent, and Cadbury Nigeria with 18.1 percent gains. At the same time and manner, gains in Airtel Africa of 1.3 percent, MTN Nigeria of 0.9 percent, Lafarge Africa Plc with 8.0 percent uptick, and Berger Nigeria of 5.1 percent spurred the ICT and industrial goods indices to appreciate by 1.1 percent and 0.5 percent week on week, respectively.
Meanwhile, market investor sentiment, which is measured by market breadth, strengthened to 2.0x week on week from 1.0x recorded in the previous week as 45 stocks progressed against 23 stocks that dropped. The top outperformers for the week were University Press Limited (44.7 percent), Aiico Insurance (31.9 percent), and Guinness Nigeria Plc (23.1 percent), while GlaxoSmithKline (12.9 percent), FTN Cocoa Processors (10.2 percent), and Transnational Corporation Hotel (9.9 percent) led the losers for the just concluded week.
However, the NGX 30 Index increased by 0.27 percent to close at 1,747.12 points as against 1,742.44 points on the previous week’s close. Market turnover closed with traded volume of 179.14 million units. Guinness and Custodian were the key gainers, while Dangote Sugar and First Bank Holdings were the key losers.