The equities market depreciated by N623 billion Week-on-Week (WoW) as investors contended with the potential implications of the recently announced banking recapitalisation plans by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
As the market capitalisation shed N623 billion WoW to close at N58.498 trillion, the benchmark index posted a weekly decline of 1.08 per cent WoW to 103,437.67 basis points.
Across the sectors last week, performance was largely on a bearish trend across the indices except the NGX Consumer Goods index which appreciated by 0.94 per cent week on week.
On the other hand, the NGX Banking index declined 6.73 per cent W-o-W. NGX Insurance index recorded a 0.85 per cent loss, while the NGX Industrial Goods index shed 0.27 per cent due to negative price movements. Meanwhile, the NGX Oil & Gas index traded flat last week.
Market breadth for the week was negative as 31 equities appreciated, 42 equities depreciated, and 81 equities remained unchanged.
Cutix led the gainers’ table by 22.69 per cent to close at N3.19, per share. Morison Industries followed with a gain of 20.45 per cent to close at N2.12, while May & Baker Nigeria went up by 19.09 per cent to close to N6.55, per share.
On the other side, FBN Holdings (FBNH) led the decliners’ table by 14.21 per cent to close at N30.50, per share. Sterling Financial Holdings Company followed with a loss of 12.96 per cent to close at N4.70, while Julius Berger Nigeria declined by 11.36 per cent to close at N58.50, per share.
Overall, a total turnover of 3.680 billion shares worth N57.892 billion in 40,726 deals was traded last week by investors on the floor of the Exchange, in contrast to a total of 1.804 billion shares valued at N52.040 that exchanged hands the prior week in 38,550 deals.
The Financial Services Industry (measured by volume) led the activity chart with 2.881 billion shares valued at N46.201 billion traded in 21,257 deals; contributing 78.29 per cent and 79.81 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively. The Services Industry followed with 479.156 million shares worth N2.282 billion in 2,142 deals, while the Conglomerates Industry pulled a turnover of 123.591 million shares worth N1.651 billion in 2,849 deals.
Analysts have expressed mixed performance on the equities market this week as investors continued to digest the corporate earnings inflow with dividend announcements, capital market analysts said.
Market players continue to digest and study the mixed corporate earnings and macroeconomic numbers which reveal the state of the economy and the impact of the ongoing government policies. All eyes are on March inflation data and Q1, 2024 financial reports to give more insight into where the economy is heading.
Today, the nation’s inflation is at its 28-year high, while the interest rate reached its historic peak, pointing to the possibility of an economic contraction as the market awaits Q1, 2024 GDP.
However, relative stability has returned to the foreign exchange market in the aftermath of the latest intervention by the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) by clearing FX backlogs. This has led to the recent appreciation in the value of the Naira against the US Dollar.
The chief operating officer of InvestData Consulting Limited, Ambrose Omordion said: “We expect a mixed and bearish sentiment amid positioning and profit taking as players digest the corporate earnings inflow with dividend announcements while taking advantage of pullbacks to position and rebalancing portfolio.
“This is amid the volatility and pullbacks that add more strength to upside potential. As such, investors should take advantage of price correction, while looking at the trends and events across the globe and domestically.”
Analysts at Cordros Research said, “We expect to see more of a choppy trading pattern in the week ahead as cautious trading dominates trading activities. In the short-term, we expect investors’ sentiments to be influenced by developments in the macroeconomic landscape and corporate actions.”
Analysts at Comercio Partners Limited stated that ‘we expect a calm start to the week.
