Chinwendu Obienyi
Following price appreciation recorded by most bluechip stocks, the Nigerian stock market finished trading for the week on a bullish note, as investors’ wealth grew by N232 billion. This was even as the market’s Year-to-Date (YtD) moderated to -6.1 per cent while its broad index and capitalisation gained 5.59 per cent week-on-week (w/w) to close at 25,204.75 points and N13.136 trillion respectively.
The gains recorded in the shares of Unilever, BUA Cement, MTNN, Mobil and this resulted in total turnover of 1.718 billion shares worth N18.849 billion in 26,367 deals traded by investors on the floor of the exchange, in contrast to a total of 926.418 million shares valued at N9.768 billion that exchanged hands last week in 20,910 deals.
Furthermore, soaring crude oil prices has remained bullish, as COVID-19 induced restrictions globally eased and as a result, demand for Nigeria’s major export (crude oil) picked up. Performance across sectors was impressive as all indices gained. The Industrial Goods and Banking indices gained the most, up by 8.0 and 7.2 per cent due to gains in Dangote Cement (+4.5 per cent), BUA Cement (+23.4 per cent), ETI (+12.0 per cent) and Zenith (+9.7 per cent). The Oil & Gas (+4.9 per cent) and AFR-ICT (+2.8 per cent) indices trailed, following price appreciation in Conoil (+9.9 per cent) and MTNN (+5.0 per cent).
In the same vein, price upticks in Wapic (+3.5 per cent), Unilever (+33.9 per cent) and PZ (+14.4 per cent) pulled the Insurance and Consumer Goods indices 2.0 and 0.9 per cent higher respectively.
The Financial Services industry (measured by volume) led the activity chart with 1.273 billion shares valued at N11.362 billion traded in 13,808 deals; thus contributing 74.08 and 60.28 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
The Industrial Goods industry followed with 102.377 million shares worth N3.194 billion in 2,956 deals while the Healthcare industry, recorded a turnover of 99.620 million shares worth N493.348 million in 1,194 deals.
Trading in the top three equities namely Zenith Bank Plc, Access Bank and FBN Holdings Plc. (measured by volume) accounted for 673.104 million shares worth N6.803 billion in 5,927 deals, contributing 39.18 and 36.09 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
Meanwhile, 55 equities appreciated in price during the week, higher than 32 equities in the previous week. Eight equities depreciated in price, lower than 28 equities in the previous week, while 100 equities remained unchanged, lower than one hundred and 103 equities recorded in the preceding week.
Unilever led the gainers’ chart with 33.86 per cent to close at N17 per share. Red Star Express followed with 26.67 per cent to close at N3.80, BUA Cement gained 23.42 per cent to close at N39.00, Mobil garnered 20.9 per cent to close at N213.90 while UACN Plc appreciated by 20.14 per cent to close at N8.35. On the flipside, ARBICO led the losers’ chart with 9.91 per cent to close at N2.09 per share. Afromedia Plc dropped 9.68 per cent to close at 0.28 kobo, Royal Exchange Plc lost 9.09 per cent to close at 0.20 kobo, Lasaco decreased by 7.41 per cent to close at 0.25 kobo while Cornerstone declined by 6.78 per cent to close at 0.55 kobo.
Reacting to the market’s performance, Analysts noted that they had predicted that the rally will be triggered by institutional and local investors taking positions. They however advised investors to contact a certified stockbroker when picking stocks.
Cordros Capital, a Lagos-based investment firm, said, “In our opinion, risks remain on the horizon due to a combination of the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in Nigeria and weak economic conditions. Thus, we continue to advise investors to trade cautiously and seek trading opportunities in only fundamentally justified stocks”.
For their part, Analysts at Afrinvest, said, “in the coming week, we anticipate a mixed performance given the opportunities for bargain hunting”.