By The Nigerian stock market is expected to extend its positive momentum this week as investors continue bargain hunting, buoyed by strong corporate earnings and dividend declarations. Despite the Easter holiday-shortened trading week, the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) maintained a strong performance, supported by renewed interest in financial and consumer goods stocks.
Analysts at Cowry Assets Management Limited projected that bullish sentiment will persist. “We expect the bullish sentiment to persist into the coming week as investors continue to react positively to ongoing corporate earnings releases,” they stated. They also advised investors to prioritize fundamentally strong stocks as macroeconomic headwinds and profit-taking could dampen gains in certain segments.
Last week, the All-Share Index advanced by 1.46 percent, closing at 105,752.61 points, while market capitalisation rose by N966 billion to N66.465 trillion. Adding to the positive sentiment was the listing by introduction of Legend Internet Plc, which contributed roughly N11.28 billion to the market cap.
Sectoral performances were largely bullish, with the NGX Consumer Goods Index leading with an 8.57 percent weekly gain. The NGX Insurance Index rose by 7.30 percent, while the NGX Banking and Commodity Indices advanced by 5.06 percent and 0.04 percent respectively. However, the NGX Oil & Gas and NGX Industrial Goods Indices dipped by 0.07 percent and 3.43 percent.
In total, 64 equities gained, 27 declined, and 57 remained unchanged. International Breweries topped the gainers’ chart with a 40.00 percent increase, while NASCON Allied Industries and Africa Prudential followed with gains of 26.22 percent and 25.64 percent respectively. On the losing side, VFD Group fell by 82.19 percent, John Holt lost 18.60 percent, and Dangote Cement dipped 10.00 percent.
A total of 1.854 billion shares worth N56.025 billion were traded in 51,386 deals last week. The Financial Services sector led trading by volume, contributing 68.28 percent and 52.48 percent to the total turnover volume and value respectively. Fidelity Bank, Access Holdings, and GTCO were the most actively traded stocks, accounting for 43.03 percent of the total volume.
