The Nigerian stock market closed negatively on Friday, with a 0.11 percent week-on-week decrease attributed to weak market momentum, leading to a collective loss of N39 billion for investors.
Both the market capitalization and the Nigerian Exchange Limited All Share Index ended trading lower at N36.847 trillion and 67,324.59 points, respectively, compared to the previous week’s figures of N36.886 trillion and 67,395.74 basis points.
However, despite the negative trend, the total turnover of shares increased to 3.911 billion units valued at N30.38 billion, exchanged in 38,536 deals.
Stock market records increased trade volume
This was higher than the previous week’s total of 2.933 billion shares valued at N47.45 billion in 44,654 deals.
In terms of volume, the Financial Services Industry dominated the activity chart, with 2.774 billion shares valued at N15.24 billion traded in 16,379 deals, contributing 70.92 percent and 50.17 percent to the total equity turnover volume and value, respectively.
The Oil and Gas Industry followed, with 438.508 million shares worth N5.20 billion traded in 6,258 deals, while the ICT Industry recorded a turnover of 294.470 million shares valued at N4.447 billion in 3,078 deals.
The top three equities traded during the week were Universal Insurance Plc, Oando Plc, and United Bank for Africa Plc (measured by volume), accounting for 2.212 billion shares worth N8.91 billion in 7,593 deals, contributing 56.56 percent and 29.32 percent to the total equity turnover volume and value, respectively.
The Insurance sector saw the most significant gain during the week, rising by 3.34 percent week-on-week, followed by the Consumer goods sector (+2.98 percent), Banking sector (+0.61 percent), and the Oil & Gas sector (+0.56 percent). Conversely, the Industrial Goods sector ended the week with a 4.80 percent decline due to a decrease in Dangote Cement’s share price.
Other indices that saw declines in value during the week included NGX 30, NGX Premium, NGX AFR Div Yield, NGX Lotus ll, NGX Industrial Goods, NGX Growth, and NGX Pension Broad, which decreased by 0.13 percent, 3.45 percent, 1.72 percent, 0.12 percent, 0.36 percent, and 0.14 percent, respectively. The NGX ASeM index remained unchanged.
During the week, 48 equities appreciated, higher than the 32 equities that gained value in the previous week. Forty equities saw a decrease in price, lower than the 53 in the previous week, while 67 equities remained unchanged, down from the 70 recorded in the previous week.
Sunu Assurances topped the list of gainers, with its share price rising by 32.91 percent to N1.05, followed by Ellah Lakes Plc, which saw a 28.79 percent increase to N3.30.
E-Tranzact International Plc gained 28.57 percent to close at N9.45 per share, Chams Holdings rose by 19.09 percent to N1.31, and Abbey Mortgage Bank Plc gained 17.65 percent to close at N2 per share.
On the losers’ side, Tantalizers recorded the most significant loss, with a 21.05 percent decline to close at N0.30. Guinea Insurance saw a 20.69 percent drop in its share value, closing at N0.23.
McNichols lost 13.33 percent, closing at N0.65, while Unity Bank Plc and Secure Electronic Technology recorded losses of 11.29 percent and 10.34 percent, respectively.
Analysts anticipate mixed sentiments in the market during the coming week, with positive momentum potentially offset by profit-taking activities.
The release of half-year earnings reports from Access Holdings is expected to add to market uncertainties, and investors may continue to reshuffle their portfolios in preparation for the quarter-end reporting season.