Equities trading on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) during the week ended July 12, 2024 witnessed mixed reactions from investors as bargain hunting activities and portfolio repositioning dominated the market leading to the benchmark index recording decline for the second straight week.
As a result, the NGX all-share index nosedived by 0.35% week-on-week and settling below the 100k mark at 99,671.28 points as investors continued their portfolio realignment across major market sectors ahead of the new earnings season.
Similarly, the market capitalisation of listed equities exhibited a bearish movement, declining by 0.35% week-on-week to N56.44 trillion. This was due to tepid investor sentiment as equity investors incurred a total loss of N139.9 billion over three out of five trading sessions this week, bringing the year-to[1]date return of the index to 33.30%.
Trading activity was notably mixed this week, as evidenced by the total volume and value of trades. The market breadth was relative flat, with 38 weekly gainers compared to 39 weekly losers. As a result, the total traded volume was up by 22.4% week-on-week to 2.77 billion units, as well as the total weekly traded value rising by 173.5% week-on-week to N85.23 billion.
Despite this, the total number of trades for the week decreased marginally by 4.80% week-on-week to 40,794 deals. Despite the tepid performance of the benchmark index, sectoral performance was weak this week as we saw the NGX-Banking lead the laggards by 2.08% week on week and was followed by NGX-Insurance and NGX-Consumer Goods sectors, which declined by 0.36% and 0.09% week-on-week due to negative price movements in UBA, GTCO, SOVRENINS, CHIPLC, PZ CUSSONS, and TANTALIZER. Conversely, the NGX-Oil & Gas and NGX Industrial indices reported gains of 1.38% and 0.05% week-on-week. Stocks contributing to these gains included ETERNA, COINOIL, LAFARGE and UPDCREIT.
At the close of the week, notable performers such as LIVESTOCK (+27%), VERITASKAP (+25%), ABCTRANS (+20%), ETERNA (+18%), and VITAFOAM (+18%) emerged as the best-performing securities, driven by positive activities that propelled their price movements. Conversely, negative investor sentiment led to sell-offs in AFRIPRUD (-18%), PZ (-10%), THOMASWY (-10%), CWG (-10%), and TANTALIZER (-10%), positioning these stocks as the top losers for the week.
Looking ahead to the upcoming week, analysts envisage a continued bargain hunting and portfolio adjustments in anticipation of the June Consumer Price Index and half-year corporate earnings reports. These upcoming economic indicators are likely to influence investor decisions and market trends in the face of weak sentiments. As the changing market structure and fundamentals persist, investors are advised to position themselves in stocks with sound fundamentals.