By Kayode Tokede

Equities market of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) last week witnessed cautious trading by investors as the benchmark index, All-Share Index closed the week higher by 2.57 basis points or 0.01 per cent to close 39,485.65 basis points.

Consequently, the equities market Month-Till-Date (MTD) and Year-Till-Date (YTD) returns were flat at +2.4 per cent and -2.0 per cent, respectively.

Specifically, the market reacted slowly to the spike in second quarter (Q2), 2021 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate and the release of the positive H1, 2021 financial result and the 30 kobo interim dividend declared by Zenith Bank plc.

Sectoral performance was upbeat; the NSE Banking, NSE Insurance and the NSE Oil & Gas indices increased by 0.30 per cent, 1.06 per cent and 0.08 per cent to 378.99 basis points, 190.07 basis points and 1,976.72 basis points respectively.

On the flip side, the NSE Consumer Goods and the NSE Industrial indices moderated by 0.43 per cent and 0.19 per cent to 556.59 basis points and 1,976.72 basis points respectively.

The market breadth for the week was positive as 35 equities appreciated in price, 29 equities depreciated in price, while 92 equities remained unchanged.

UPDC led the gainers table by 37.59 per cent to close at N1.83, per share. Morison Industries followed with a gain of 32.14 per cent to close at N1.85, while Consolidated Hallmark Insurance went up by 21.74 per cent to close to 56 kobo, per share.

On the other side, Associated Bus Company led the decliners table by 15.38 per cent to close at 33 kobo, per share. Unilever Nigeria and Ikeja Hotel followed with a loss of 10 per cent each to close at N13.50 and N1.26 respectively, while SCOA declined by 9.43 per cent to close at N1.44, per share.

Overall, a total turnover of 1.026 billion shares worth N8.183 billion in 18,102 deals were traded last week by investors on the floor of the Exchange, in contrast to a total of 866.544 million shares valued at N12.257 billion that exchanged hands previous week in 17,291 deals.

The Financial Services Industry (measured by volume) led the activity chart with 567.225 million shares valued at N3.658 billion traded in 7,970 deals; contributing 55.30 per cent and 44.70 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.

The ICT Industry followed with 126.638 million shares worth N1.164 billion in 1,073 deals, while Consumer Goods traded a turnover of 90.497 million shares worth N1.454 billion in 3,344 deals.

Trading in the top three equities; Sovereign Trust Insurance, Mutual Benefits Assurance and Transnational Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) accounted for 247.735 million shares worth N114.399 million in 809 deals, contributing 24.15 per cent and 1.40 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.

Cordros Securities Limited stated that, “Considering the lull in the market last week, we believe earnings from the Big banks this week will bring some breath of fresh air to the local bourse. Particularly, as the declaration of interim dividends will accompany the results. Overall, we advise investors to seek trading opportunities in only fundamentally justified stocks as the weak macro story remains a significant headwind for corporate earnings.”

In the new week, analysts at Cowry Asset Management Limited expected the equities market index to trade positively as investors are likely to buy banking shares, especially the tier-one banks amid anticipated interim dividend payment.