By-Kehinde Akinseinde-Jayeoba, Lagos
Profit-taking activities continued on the equities market amid buying interests in Dangote Cement which weighed on the All-Share Index (ASI) of the Lagos bourse to close higher on a low traded volume and negative market breadth.
Equities investors earned N62.21 billion as the market capitalization closed the week higher at N29.59 trillion as against the N29.53 trillion it opened the week with.
Through the week under review, market sentiment was mixed as the benchmark index rose 0.21 per cent week on week to 54,327.30 basis points, while the market cap inched northward by 0.21 per cent week on week by N62.21 billion to N29.59 trillion.
Also, the ASI’s year-to-date return was up six per cent owing to increased buy-power and momentum across some large and mid-cap names.
Across the sectors last week, the sentiment was largely downbeat for most of the indices as we saw the Insurance, Banking and Consumer Goods indexes lost 3.32 per cent, 0.9 per cent and 0.63 per cent weekly. On the other hand, price appreciation from buying momentum was witnessed in the oil & gas index and the industrial indexwhich gained by 0.63 per cent and 0.65 per cent week on week in that orderdue to impressive gains recorded in Dangote Cement, Conoil.
Meanwhile, the top gaining securities for the week were Conoil, MRS and Northern Nigeria Flour Mills, having appreciated in share value by 21 per cent, 10 epr cent and 20 per cent, respectivel; while the week’s losers were FTN Cocoa Processor, Japaul Gold and Mutual Benefits as their share prices depreciated by 15 per cent, 12 per cent and 11 per cent, respectively.
Meanwhile, trading activity closed southward for the trade deals by 8.71 per cent week on week to 18,563 as stockbrokers recorded a 75.15 per cent decline in trade volumes to 941.5 million and valued at N5.33 billion, indicating a decrease of 75.4 per cent week on week.
Looking ahead into the new week, Cowry Assets Analysts expect the current trend of positive sentiment to take grip of market activities in the face of portfolio rebalancing and profit taking activities and on the back of the outcome from the recent T-bills auction as rates inched lower further in the fixed income space.
“However, we advise investors to trade companies with sound fundamentals and, as such, should take advantage of price corrections in line with domestic and global trends,” Cowry said in it’s market report.
Analysts at Cordros Securities believed that in the subsequent weeks, the NGX would be flooded with corporate earnings as more companies publish 2022FY numbers, which would be accompanied by dividend declarations.
“We believe this should provide a catalyst for buying activities even as risk-averse investors are likely to remain cautious due to medium-term expectations of an uptick in FI yields. Overall, we advise investors to seek trading opportunities in only fundamentally justified stocks as the weak macro story remains a significant headwind for corporate earnings,” Cordros reports stated.
