By volume, the financial services sector led last week’s transactions at the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX).
With 1.2 billion shares valued at N11.5 billion in 12,775 deals, it dominated the activity chart and accounted for 59.4% of the overall stock turnover volume.
The services sector came in second with a turnover of 131.2 million shares worth N539.7 million in 2,263 trades, followed by the oil and gas sector with 328.7 million shares worth N3.2 billion in 4,713 deals.
Relative to volume, trading in the top three stocks—Japaul Gold and Venture Plc, Fidelity Bank Plc, and Jaiz Bank Plc—accounted for 488.1 million shares valued at N1.9 billion over 3,136 transactions, or 24.11 percent of the total equity turnover.
As a result, investors on the exchange floor transacted 2.02 billion shares valued at N27.7 billion in 32,763 deals, compared to 2.5 billion units, valued at N45.3 billion, that were transacted in 32,815 deals over the previous week.
Positive sentiment continued for a third week running on the price movement chart, driven by bargain hunting in MTN Nigeria (+2.9%), Seplat (+7.4%), and Airtel (+1.1%). As a result, the all-share index and market capitalization increased by 0.4% to close the week at 71,112.99 and N39.108 trillion, respectively.
The development resulted in an increase in the month-to-date and year-to-date returns to +0.4% and +38.8%, respectively.
Similarly, while the NGX ASeM index closed flat, all indexes finished higher with the exception of NGX Main Board, NGX Banking, NGX Industrial Goods, and NGX Sovereign Bond, which all saw a depreciation of 0.11 percent, 0.04 percent, 1.18 percent, and 0.27 percent, respectively.
Analysts at Cordros Capital responded to the performance of the market by saying: "We think investors will carefully watch the outcomes of the upcoming MPC meeting next week to gain further clarity on the movement of yields in the FI market.”
Therefore, we expect cautious trading on the local exchange. In general, we urge investors to only invest in stocks that are fundamentally justified because the negative macro story continues to be a major drag on corporate earnings.
“We still expect similar tepid trading sessions next week, as investors look to other asset classes, given the significant returns most of the counters have posted this year,” said analysts at Vetiva Dealings & Brokerage.
A more detailed analysis of last week’s trading revealed that, in contrast to the 32,861 units priced at N4.4 million transacted in 143 trades last week, a total of 36,548 units of exchange-traded products (ETPs) worth N4.61 million were exchanged in 95 deals.
Additionally, bonds worth N80.851 million were traded in 54 deals, as opposed to the N65.981 million worth of 62,233 units that were transacted in 16 deals the previous week.
This week, 54 stocks increased in value compared to 37 stocks the week before. Thirty stocks lost value, down from 43 the week before, and seventy-two stocks were steady, down from 75 the week before.
The FMDQ Securities Exchange FX Spot and Derivatives markets saw a total turnover of $792.98 million for the week ending November 17, 2023, up 16.92 percent ($114.74 million) from the $678.24 million recorded for the week ending November 10, 2023.
The exchange claims that the 20.34 percent ($133.14 million) rise in FX Spot turnover was the only factor contributing to the week-over-week (WoW) increase in overall turnover. This increase countered the 77.87 percent ($18.40 million) reduction in FX Derivatives turnover.
Furthermore, there were no trades made in the Exchange-Traded FX Futures and Cleared Naira-Settled Non-Deliverable Forwards markets, meaning that the 77.87 percent ($18.40 million) decline in FX Forwards turnover was the only factor contributing to the WoW decrease in FX Derivatives turnover.
Additionally, for the week ending November 17, the total value of transactions in the FX Spot market was $787.75 million. This represents a 20.34 percent increase ($133.14 million) over the number of transactions performed for the week ending November 10 ($654.61 million).
Additionally, the average Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Fixing (NAFEX) rate for the week ending November 17, 2023, was $/₦850.43, down from $/₦839.74 reported for the week ending November 3, 2023. This indicates a 1.26 percent ($/₦10.69) devaluation of the Naira versus the US dollar.
