Nigeria’s equity market closed the week on a bullish note despite market players starting the week on a cautious note after the All-Share Index (ASI) shed 4.6 per cent week-on-week, the largest single week loss since September 14, 2018.
Trading had resumed Monday’s session on a negative footing following sell-offs across market heavyweight, Dangote Cement, in addition to large capitalised banking stocks, pushing the ASI down by 1.53 per cent to close at 29,162.24 points.
As a result, market capitalisation shed N171 billion to settle at N11.0 trillion while Year-to-Date (YTD) loss worsened to -7.2 per cent.
The bears sustained its hold on Tuesday as the ASI recorded losses dipping by 0.04 per cent to settle at 29,149.46 points on the back of sell-offs in ETI, Dangote Cement and Dangote Sugar.
However, bargain hunting in bellwether stocks, the domestic bourse advanced by 0.15 per cent while market capitalisation also rose by N17 billion to settle at the N11 trillion mark on Wednesday.
Friday’s session saw sustained bullish run on the nation’s bourse as the benchmark index inching up 0.73 per cent to close the week at 29,565.90 points.
Thus, investors’ wealth has increased by N89 billion following sustained market gains with the market capitalisation closing the week at N11.105 trillion.
At the sound of the closing gong on Friday, market breadth was positive as 28 stocks appreciated in value while eight others depreciated.
Meyer topped the gainers’ chart with 9.26 per cent to close at 0.59 kobo per share. Regal Insurance followed with 8.70 per cent gain to close at 0.25 kobo, Unity Bank increased by 8.22 per cent to close at 0.79 kobo, May&Baker rose by 8 per cent to close at N2.70 while Chams garnered 7.69 per cent to close at 0.28 kobo.
On the flipside, UHOMREIT topped the losers’ chart with 9.96 per cent to close at N40.70 per share. Ikeja Hotel was next with 9.73 per cent to close at N1.67, ABC Transport fell by 9.09 per cent to close at 0.40 kobo, NEM declined by 8.64 per cent to close at N2.01 while Royal Exchange Plc lost 7.41 per cent to close at 0.25 kobo.
Sovereign Insurance topped the activity chart with the sale of 47.05 million shares valued at N11.292 million. Chams traded 32.63 million shares worth N8.93 million while Zenith Bank transacted 29.31 million shares valued at N598.78 million.
Overall, the volume of stocks traded stood at 232.77 million units while value of stocks traded closed at N1.97 billion, which changed hands in 2,677 deals.
Reacting to the development, a stockbroker who craved anonymity noted that the economy was badly battered before the elections took place, adding that investors are fed up with the handling of the Nigerian economy by the present administration.
His words: “Traders who had hoped for a change in government or positive policy to trigger an upturn, did not see any of these things, got fed up of how the government could not manage the economy with a good grip, dumped their shares. This meant disapproval of the government because they made several promises before the elections, even had some initiatives going on, but because they have won the elections, they have suspended all initiatives”
He, however, noted that the bulls would take over as investors would see the situation as a medium to long term investment purpose because the market has an automatic self-adjusting mechanism.