Akpobor Jirue, Lagos
Profit-taking activities and sell-offs, particularly across some mid and large-cap stocks dominated the Nigerian stock market last week leading to further depression of the benchmark index. The market also witnessed low trading volumes and negative internals highlighting both the market’s weakness and potential opportunities for astute investors. This trend unfolded as market participants digested the recently released July 2024 Consumer Price Index (CPI) data, which indicated a deceleration in Nigeria’s headline inflation to 33.40%. This period also coincided with expectations surrounding interim dividend declarations.
By the end of the trading week, bearish sentiment had firmly gripped the All Share Index (ASI), which fell by 1.51% on a week-on-week basis, closing at 97,100.31 points. This decline was primarily driven by pressured sell-offs in the banking and industrial goods sectors, a reflection of the ongoing interplay of market dynamics amidst heightened volatility. Additionally, the market capitalisation saw a corresponding decrease of 1.51% week-on-week, dropping to N55.13 trillion, with a total of N846.53 billion being wiped off from the market. As a result, the year-to-date (YTD) return for the market now stands at 29.86%.
Trading activities throughout the week were notably subdued, with a lacklustre market sentiment prevailing. The weekly traded volume dropped by 25.8% week-on-week to 1.99 billion units, while the weekly traded value declined by 17.9% to N40.19 billion. Furthermore, the number of weekly deals fell by 7.24%, amounting to 44,017 trades. This downturn was exacerbated by negative market breadth, as evidenced by the fact that the number of gainers (38) was outstripped by the number of losers (46).
In terms of sectoral performance, the picture was largely positive, with the exception of the NGX-Industrial Goods and NGX-Banking sectors, which retreated by 5.16% and 2.28% week-on-week respectively, as profit-taking exerted downward pressure on these sectors in the context of ongoing portfolio realignments. In contrast, the market pullbacks witnessed during the week provided strong buying opportunities that buoyed investor sentiment. This positive sentiment was reflected in the performance of certain stocks, leading to gains in the NGX-Oil & Gas (5.25%), NGX-Insurance (0.79%), and NGX-Consumer Goods (0.37%) indexes.
As the week drew to a close, specific stocks stood out as top gainers. RTBRISCOE led the chart with a 33.9% increase, followed by TOTAL (20%), JBERGER (18%), GUINEAINS (18%), and UPL (12%), all benefiting from positive price movements during the week. Conversely, stocks such as CUTIX (-18%), BUACEMENT (-15%), OANDO (-12%), LEARNAFRICA (-11%), and CHAMS (-10%) were among the top losers, primarily due to sell-offs by investors.