With a loss of 2.9% at the close of last week’s trading on the stocks market of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), the Insurance index led the losers’ chart, helped by selling pressure in Cornerstone insurance (a loss of 11.4%) and CHIPLC (a loss of 11.3%).
The industrial products index fell 0.5% last week, following the sector on the loser’s chart. Price depreciation in CAP (-2.2%) was the cause of the sector’s downfall. Losses in the shares of Eterna Plc (-3.4%) were followed by a decrease of 0.1% in the oil and gas index.
A rise in Zenith Bank (+7.4%), Ecobank TransNational Incorporated (+6.7%), PZ Cussons (+14.3%), and Cadbury (+13%), on the other hand, increased the banking and consumer goods sectors by 5.6% and 2.2%, respectively.
44,189 transactions involving 2.6 billion shares valued of N45.5 billion were made by investors on the exchange floor last week. However, the number of shares traded was more than the 2.5 billion units worth N32.8 billion that were transacted in 40,736 transactions on September 1, 2023.
With 1.6 billion shares worth N20.9 billion moved in 18,686 deals, the financial services sector dominated the activity chart in terms of volume, accounting for 60% of the overall stock turnover.
The oil and gas sector came in second with 385.5 million shares trading for N4.7 billion in 4,579 transactions. Consumer goods ranked third with a turnover of 221.6 million shares worth N12.7 billion in 8,919 transactions.
Trading in the top three stocks, Oando Plc, Fidelity Bank Plc, and United Bank for Africa Plc, contributed 27% of the overall turnover with 732.3 million shares worth N7.1 billion in 7,020 deals.
In comparison to the previous week, which saw a total of 9,775 units worth N1.9 million moved in 79 deals, 5.8 million units worth N65.9 million were traded in 101 deals. The All-Share Index and market capitalization increased by 0.9% to close the week at 68,143.34 and N37.295 trillion, respectively, according to the price movement chart, due to heavy bargain hunting in the shares of BUA Foods, Zenith Bank, Dangote Cement, Dangote Sugar Refinery, and Fidelity Bank. This brought the Month-To-Date (MTD) and Year-To-Date (YTD) gains to +2.4% and +33.
The NGX ASeM index closed flat, while all other indexes ended higher with the exception of the NGX Insurance, NGX Oil and Gas, NGX Industrial Goods, NGX Growth, and NGX Sovereign Bond indices, which declined by 2.94 percent, 0.12 percent, 0.49 percent, 2.28 percent, and 0.46 percent, respectively.
In anticipation of the third quarter interim dividend declarations, analysts expected a better outlook as investors continue to shift their portfolios toward blue-chip stocks and dividend-paying stocks.
A total of 68 stocks were steady this week, which is fewer than the 72 reported the week before. Fifty-two stocks gained throughout the week, which was lower than the 55 stocks that gained during the previous week, while 35 stocks declined.
