Despite the market starting the week on a bearish note, investors trading on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) gained N50 billion week-on-week (w-o-w).
The market had started Monday on a negative footing as the All Share Index (ASI) fell by 0.14 per cent 29,809.2 points due to sell-offs in the shares of ETI, CCNN and Nigerian Breweries.
As a result, Year-to-Date (YTD) performance further weakened to -5.2 per cent while market capitalisation fell by N19 billion to N13.136 trillion.
Tuesday’s session saw price depreciation in the shares of GT Bank, Seplat and UBA, which then pushed the ASI down by 0.47 per cent to 29,668.7 points while market capitalisation declined by N62 billion to N13.074 trillion with the YTD deteriorating to -5.2 per cent.
The market sustained its bearish run on Wednesday as ASI declined 0.2 per cent to 29,609.0 points, on the back of losses in Nestle, CCNN and Betaglass. Investors lost N26 billion as market capitalisation declined to N13.047 trillion.
However, Thursday’s session saw a rebound as the ASI climbed higher by 0.47 per cent to settle at 29,749.35 points while YTD loss moderated to -5.3 per cent. Thus, investors gained N62 billion as market capitalisation increased to N13.109 trillion.
The positive performance can be attributed to gains in Nestle, Seplat and Dangote Cement.
Friday’s session saw the market extending its bullish run as the ASI notched up 0.73 per cent to close at 29,966.87 points while the market capitalisation closed the week at N13.205 trillion.
This represents a minimal gain of N50 billion from N13.155 trillion recorded in the previous week.
Overall, bargain hunting across bellwether stocks – GT Bank(+5.28 per week w/w), Nestle (+2.94 per cent w/w), NB (+5.00 per cent w/w) – pushed the benchmark index up 0.39 per cent w/w.
Thus, the MtD and YtD losses moderated to 3.55 per cent and 4.66 per cent respectively. Analysing by sector, gains in the Banking (+2.45 per cent), Consumer Goods (+1.74 per cent) and Insurance (+0.53 per cent) indices masked losses in Industrial Goods (-0.44 per cent) and Oil & Gas (-0.04 per cent) indices.
At the close of trading, the volume and value of stocks traded stood at 248.36 million units and N5.40 billion in 3,184 deals.
GT Bank was the most active, selling 83.56 million shares valued at N2.60 billion. ETI traded 25.05 million shares worth N269.74 million while Zenith Bank transacted 18.24 million shares valued at N362.22 million.
Investors are still yet to see the direction of the current administration as concurrent issues remain unsettled even in the capital market.
Earlier in the week, a federal court in Lagos adjourned a case brought by local oil firm Oando to stop Nigeria’s financial watchdog, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), from replacing its chief executive and making other management changes to July 22.
The SEC’s action followed an investigation in which it allegedly found evidence of financial infractions by the company.
Recall that the court had blocked the SEC from replacing Oando’s chief executive and taking other actions against the oil firm, pending further hearings on the case.
Oando has dismissed the SEC charges as unsubstantiated and called for the SEC to release the full audit on which it is basing its charges.
Also, the apex regulator got a new board following calls from market stakeholders after the commission had failed to have a board for four years.
Speaking during the inauguration of the board of the SEC, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Finance, Mr Mahmoud Isa-Dutse, who is also overseeing the office of the Minister of Finance, noted that the Nigerian capital market is growing and evolving and to sustain this growth and eventually transform to a world class capital market, transparency and investor confidence is key.
He said that like world class markets, Nigerian capital market should be characterised by high level of liquidity, depth, breath and sophistication with a strong domestic investor base.
“It should be innovative, transparent due to robust investor base. It should be innovative, transparent due to robust disclosure regimes, and efficient both in price discovery and in the allocation of capital. We must have it in mind that world-class capital markets do far more than provide access to capital. They are enablers of socio-economic development because they hasten the rate of capital formation, foster a meritocracy and promote good corporate governance, innovation and entrepreneurship.
“Thus, our capital market should broaden access to economic prosperity by enabling the emergence of financially responsible citizens, accelerating wealth creation and wealth distribution, providing capital to small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs), and catalysing housing finance.”
Isa-Dutse stated that the inauguration is coming at a time when many players in the market are displaying weak corporate governance practices that could potentially dampen investor confidence and undermine the steady gains achieved since the 2008 stock market crash and, therefore, urged the board members to play their own part as crucial enablers in the industry towards advancing a common vision for the growth and revitalization of the market.
“The administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is committed to transparency and accountability in corporate governance. To this end, I must emphasise that the role of governing boards is to provide effective oversight and strategic adversary to management team. I would, therefore, like to advise all concerned to study and strictly adhere to laid down laws that have clearly defined the roles and responsibilities of the board members,” he added.
In his remarks, Chairman of the SEC Board, Mr Olufemi Lijadu emphasised that capital markets are very important in the socio-economic development of any nation as it plays a critical role in attracting investments.
“As we all join hands together to build our country, we need investments and the capital market plays a critical role in that respect. We need to see how we can move forward to have a more orderly market, a market that is fair and transparent and can attract investments to build Nigeria. We need a market that is attractive to investors, both local and foreign,” he said.
In her remarks, acting Director General of the SEC, Ms Mary Uduk, expressed delight at the inauguration of the board, which she said will assist in moving the capital market forward.