Stock Market Soars by N623 Billion Over Five Days Despite Election

Investors gained N623 billion over the course of the five trading days in the Nigerian equities market, defying the usual concerns about the upcoming election.

Also, the number of shares traded went up a lot. Investors on the floor of the Exchange traded 799.8 million shares worth N29.4 billion in 14,194 deals, more than 751.9 million units worth N20.5 billion that were traded in 15,822 deals on February 17, 2023.

Market capitalization increased by N623 billion, or 2.13 percent, to N29.934 trillion at the close of transactions last week, up from N29.310 trillion on Friday, February 17, 2023, and the All-Share Index increased by 1,144.75 points, from 53,804.46 points to 54,949.21 points.

Similar to this, all of the other indices ended higher, with the exception of the NGX Sovereign Bond index, which lost 0.07 percent. The NGX Insurance and NGX ASeM indices, on the other hand, ended the day unchanged.

Analysts predicted cautious trading this week, noting that the outcome of the election will determine the direction of the market. The improved performance was bolstered by bargain-hunting activities in Airtel Africa (+3.9 percent), BUAfood (+15.6%), and Geregu (+13.8%).

The capital said, ” We think that investors will be focused on what happens in the highly anticipated presidential elections in 2023. As a result, cautious trading dominates the trading activities, resulting in a more “choppy theme.”

“Overall, the weak macro story remains a significant headwind for corporate earnings,” according to our recommendations, “we advise investors to seek trading opportunities in only fundamentally sound stocks.”

Vetiva Dealings and Brokerage’s analysts stated: Since all industries ended the day in the black, investors bought up stocks all over the place. We anticipate a mixed session to begin the week, with the election result determining market direction in the coming week.
Afrinvest stated, We anticipate cautious trading next week as post-election developments unravel despite the positive investor sentiment.

A deeper analysis of last week’s transactions revealed that, as measured by volume, the financial services industry topped the activity chart with 6,319 deals for 480.1 million shares worth N6.1 billion; thereby contributing 60.03 percent to the volume of turnover.

The utilities sector followed with 289 deals for 126.9 million units worth N12.9 billion. With a turnover of 54.01 million shares worth N5.9 billion in 1,575 transactions, the ICT sector came in third.

According to volume, trading in the top three stocks—Geregu Power Plc, Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc, and Zenith Bank Plc—accounted for 307.8 million shares worth N17.5 billion in transactions, or 38.48 percent of the total volume of equity turnover.

This week, there were 40 transactions involving 5,760 units of Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) worth N1.1 million, compared to 29 transactions involving 2,895 units worth N452,808.58 the week before. Additionally, there were 9 transactions involving 54,323 units of bonds worth N54.4 million, compared to 12 transactions involving 24,298 units worth N25.5 million the week before.

On the price movement chart, 39 stocks increased in price over the previous week, compared to 36 stocks. On the other hand, the price of 22 stocks fell below that of 27 stocks the week before, while the price of 96 stocks remained unchanged, which was higher than the price of 94 stocks the week before.