By Kayode Tokede
The equities market of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) depreciated by 0.76 per cent week-on-week (w/w) to 38,916.74 basis points from 39,216.20 basis points it opened for trading amid investors profit-taking.
The market opened for four trading days last week as the Federal Government declared Friday and Monday as public holidays to commemorate the 2021 Easter celebrations.
As a result, the equities market Year-Till-Date (YTD) loss rose to -3.4per cent.
Activity levels mirrored the decline in the market’s broad gauge, as trading volumes and value declined by 5.6per cent w/w and 10.7 per cent w/w, respectively.
Notably, profit-taking in bellwether stocks; Dangote cement plc declined by 4.4 per cent, Stanbic IBTC Holdings plc sheds two per cent, Access bank dropped by three per cent, and Unilever Nigeria was down by 2.6per cent to drive the weekly loss.
Sectoral performance was broadly negative, as the Industrial Goods (-2.1 per cent), Banking (-1.3 per cent) and Oil and Gas (-0.3 per cent) indices recorded losses. On the flip side, the Insurance (+2.8 per cent) and Consumer Goods (+1.9 per cent) indices posted gains.
The weekly market report stated that, “A total turnover of 1.445 billion shares worth N19.039 billion in 17,400 deals were traded this week by investors on the floor of the Exchange, in contrast to a total of 1.530 billion shares valued at N21.311 billion that exchanged hands last week in 20,016 deals.
“The Financial Services Industry (measured by volume) led the activity chart with 1.033 billion shares valued at N13.369 billion traded in 9,179 deals; thus contributing 71.51per cent and 70.22 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
“The Conglomerates Industry followed with 131.153 million shares worth N578.393 million in 811 deals. The third place was Consumer Goods Industry, with a turnover of 92.937 million shares worth N1.750 billion in 2,892 deals.
“Trading in the top three equities namely Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, Union Bank Nig. Plc and Wema Bank Plc (measured by volume) accounted for 670.354 million shares worth N10.331 billion in 1,990 deals, contributing 46.39 per cent and 54.26 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.”
The report stated that a total of 108,271 units valued at N445.285 million were traded this week in 16 deals compared with a total of 25,905 units valued at N208.954 million transacted last week in seven deals.
It added that, “A total of 50,358 units valued at N55.298 million were traded this week in 14 deals compared with a total of 93,124 units valued at N97.453 million transacted last week in 47 deals.”
Analysts at Cordros capital stated that, “Heading into the second quarter, we expect investors to rebalance their portfolios based on an assessment of corporate earnings released during Q1-21 whilst keeping an eye on the movement of yields in the FI market.
“Considering that the FY 2020 earnings season has run its course, we now expect investors’ sentiment to be influenced by developments in the macroeconomic landscape and corporate actions. Notwithstanding, we advise investors to take positions in only fundamentally justified stocks as the unimpressive macro story remains a significant headwind for corporate earnings.”