21 April 2014, Lagos – Investors in the Nigerian equities market again smiled home last week as the market sustained its positive momentum helped by the listing of Seplat Petroleum Plc and the company’s positive first quarter results released earlier in the week
Last week’s performance made it four straight weeks of excellent run, fuelling speculation that investors may have put aside the cautious approach employed earlier in the year as a result of the tightening by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Traders who spoke to THISDAY are optimistic that the days ahead will be positive as more investors scramble for undervalued stocks.
“We expect this positive momentum will continue towards the first half of next week, as investors might seek to capitalise on undervalued stocks particularly the banking stocks. Overall, we expect market breath to stay relatively positive within the period,” said a trader.
It was a four-day trading week as the Federal Government of Nigeria declared Friday 18th and Monday 21st April 2014 as public holidays to mark “Good Friday” and Easter celebrations.
Meanwhile, the strong performance last week impacted the market positively as the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All-Share Index or ASI and the market capitalisation of listed equities appreciated by 0.58 per cent and 2.98 per cent to close Thursday at 39,311.60 and N12.928 trillion respectively.
All the NSE sectoral Indices appreciated during the week with the exception of the NSE Consumer Goods Index and NSE-Lotus II that shed 0.76 per cent and 0.84 per cent respectively; while the NSE ASeM closed flat.
Summary of Daily Performance
The market had started the week on a poor note as the benchmark index declined by 0.25 per cent to close at 38,987.50 from 39,083.66 attained the previous Friday. However, the market capitalisation of listed equities increased to N12.834 trillion from N12.554 trillion.
Trading activities on the exchange depreciated by 31 per cent as investors bought 188.23 million shares worth N1.52 billion, in 3,667 deals, compared to 274.05 million shares worth N3.98 billion, in in 4,409 deals exchanged on Friday.
FCMB Plc. Sterling Bank Plc and Skye Bank Plc were the most actively traded stocks on the exchange on the day in terms of volume, while Zenith Bank Plc and Guaranty Trust Bank Plc topped the list in terms of value.
The equities market closed on a positive note on Tuesday as the ASI appreciated by 0.50 per cent to close at 39,203.29 points, compared with the appreciation of 0.29 per cent recorded on Monday.
The market was boosted by gains recorded in the share prices of some highly capitalised stocks such as: PZ Cussons Plc, Zenith Bank Plc, GT Bank Plc, Nigerian Breweries Plc and Access Bank Plc amongst others.
Relatively, the market capitalisation of listed equities appreciated of 0.47 per cent to close at N12.91trillion, compared with the gain of 0.29 per cent recorded yesterday to close at N12.55 trillion.
The total value of the stocks traded on the floor of the NSE was N3.49 billion, up by 129.04 per cent from N1.52 billion traded on Monday.
The market remained positive on Wednesday as the benchmark index inched up by 0.21 per cent to close at 39,298.97 from 39,217.65 attained on Tuesday. Also, market capitalisation increased to N12.937 trillion from N12.910 trillion on Tuesday.
However, trading activities stayed relatively flat as investors bought 276.73 million shares worth N3.60 billion in 4,859 deals, compared to 277.68 million shares worth N3.48 billion traded in 4,793 deals on Tuesday.
First Bank Holdings, Guaranty Trust Bank, and Zenith Bank were the most actively traded stocks on the exchange on the day in terms of volume, while Guaranty Trust Bank and Zenith Bank topped the list in terms of value.
The equities market again closed on a positive note on Thursday as the benchmark index appreciated by 0.07 per cent to close at 39,311.60 points, compared with the appreciation of 0.24 per cent recorded Wednesday.
The appreciation in the Index on Thursday was as a result of the gains recorded in the share prices of Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, Lafarge WAPCO Plc, Union Bank Plc, FCMB Group Plc and UBA Plc amongst others.
However, the market capitalisation recorded a marginal depreciation of 0.04 per cent to close at N12.93 trillion, compared with the gain of 0.21 per cent recorded Wednesday to close at N12.94 trillion.
Market Turnover
Analysis of trading activity for the week showed that a turnover of 1.532 billion shares worth N14.309 billion in 17,704 deals were traded last week by investors on the floor of the Exchange in contrast to a total of 1.642 billion shares valued at N23.163 billion that exchanged hands the previous week in 21,620 deals.
The financial services industry (measured by volume) led the activity chart with 1.327 billion shares valued at N10.388 billion traded in 10,582 deals; thus contributing 86.67 per cent and 72.60 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
Conglomerates followed with a turnover of 102.919 million shares worth N578.971 million in 1,198 deals. The third place was occupied by the Consumer Goods Industry with 28.978 million shares worth N1.727 billion in 2,218 deals.
Trading in the top three equities, namely United Bank for Africa Plc, UBA Capital Plc and Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc (measured by volume) accounted for 800.380 million shares worth N4.765 billion in 2,373 deals, contributing 52.26 per cent and 33.30 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
Also traded during the week were a total of 23,153 units of Exchange Traded Products (ETPs) valued at N622,765.88 executed in 14 deals compared with a total of 84,238 units of valued at N2.038 million transacted last week in 24 deals.
However, there were no transactions recorded in debt instruments this week under review. However, a total of 38 units of FGN bonds valued at N42, 484.92 were traded last week.
Gainers and Losers
Meanwhile, the price movement chart of the NSE displayed a total of 31 equities that appreciated in prices during the week lower than 33 equities of the preceding week. Forty-two equities depreciated in prices higher than 36 equities of the preceding week, while 125 equities remained unchanged lower than 129 of the preceding week.
The top 10 gainers in the top 10 category were: Forte Oil Plc (N13.72), CAP Plc (N2.25), Honeywell Flour Mills Plc (40 kobo), A.G. Leventis Nigeria Plc (15 kobo), Courtville Investments Plc (6 kobo), University Press Plc (35 kobo), RT Briscoe Nigeria Plc (10 kobo), Ikeja Hotel Plc (61 kobo), Acess Bank Plc (48 kobo) and Vitafoam Nigeria Plc (20 kobo).
On the other hand, the top 10 losers included: Okomu Oil Palm Plc (N5.98), Conoil Plc (N2.70), MRS Oil Nigeria Plc (N2.72), Pfizer Products Plc (19 kobo), Sterling Bank Plc (22 kobo), Fidelity Bank Plc (18 kobo), Costain (WA) Plc (10 kobo), NPF Micro Finance Bank Plc (7 kobo), Cutix Plc (10 kobo) and Eterna Plc (19 kobo).