Despite the recent hike in the monetary policy rate, the domestic stock market maintained its upward momentum last week, as bullish sentiments dominated three of the five trading sessions.
Stock market investors placed N45.91 billion on about 3.32 billion shares on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange Limited.
Bulk of the investment was made in the financial services industry comprising bank and insurance stocks.
Figures provided by the NGX Ltd at the weekend showed that the financial services industry (measured by volume) led the activity chart with 1.430 billion shares valued at N23.659 billion traded in 22,745 deals; thus contributing 43.09 percent and 51.53 percent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
The oil and gas industry followed with 703.389 million shares worth N7.323 billion in 6,207 deals.
The third place was the healthcare industry, with a turnover of 411.489 million shares worth N2.896 billion in 827 deals.
In all, a total turnover of 3.318 billion shares worth N45.911 billion in 49,243 deals was traded in the review week by investors on the floor of the Exchange, in contrast to a total of 1.860 billion shares valued at N38.445 billion that exchanged hands last week in 40,228 deals.
Trading in the top three equities namely Japaul Gold & Ventures Plc, Mecure Industries Plc and Fidelity Bank Plc (measured by volume) accounted for 1.363 billion shares worth N9.472 billion in 4,050 deals, contributing 41.06 percent and 20.63 percent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
Meanwhile, the NGX All-Share index and market capitalization appreciated by 0.21 percent to close the week at 98,458.68 and N56.578 trillion respectively.
Similarly, all other indices finished higher with the exception of NGX Consumer Goods, NGX Lotus II, NGX Industrial Goods and NGX Growth which depreciated 0.15 percent, 3.31 percent, 0.04 percent, and 0.26 percent respectively while the NGX ASeM and NGX Sovereign Bond indices closed flat.
Forty-five (45) equities appreciated in price during the week higher than forty-one (41) equities in the previous week. Thirty-three (33) equities depreciated in price lower than forty (40) in the previous week, while seventy-three (73) equities remained unchanged, higher than seventy (70) recorded in the previous week.
At the ETP segment, a total of 92,630 units valued at N42.253 million were traded in 135 deals compared with a total of 146,162 units valued at N14.736 million transacted last week in 151 deals while a total of 268,099 units valued at N269.487 million were traded in 32 deals compared with a total of 172,639 units valued at N163.409 million transacted the preceding week in 24 deals at the bond market.
Stock market analysts at Cordros Research anticipate that investors will be cautious about leaving gains in the market this week, leading to intermittent profit-taking.
“However, this is likely to be balanced by bargain-hunting activities as investors prepare for the upcoming Q3-24 earnings season. In the medium term, we expect investors’ sentiment to be shaped by macroeconomic developments and movements in yields within the fixed income market,” Cordros said in a report.
On the global front, stocks traded with positive momentum as anticipation grew for another significant US interest rate cut this year with investors closely watching the upcoming PCE (personal consumption expenditures) data for additional cues.
Risk appetite was further boosted by news of additional fiscal stimulus from Chinese policymakers, complementing the monetary easing measures announced earlier in the week. As of the time of writing, US equities (DJIA: +0.3%; S&P 500: +0.8%) are on track for a weekly gain, buoyed by strong US GDP data, Micron’s (MU) upbeat earnings, better-than-expected jobless claims data and China’s pledge for further stimulus.
Equally, European equities (STOXX Europe: +2.3%; FTSE 100: +0.8%) are set to close higher, driven by optimism around China’s stimulus measures and expectations of further rate cuts in the US and Eurozone. Asian markets (Nikkei 225: +5.6%; SSE: +12.8%) rallied as investors responded positively to robust stimulus efforts by the Chinese policymakers and the prospect of monetary easing by the Bank of Japan.
The Emerging Market (MSCI EM: +5.1%) index advanced spurred by the rally in China (+12.8%) while the Frontier Market (MSCI FM: +1.1%) index inched higher driven by positive sentiments in Vietnam (+1.6%).
