November 16, (THEWILL) — The Nigerian equities market closed the week broadly lower, with the NGX All-Share Index (ASI) dipping by 1.68 percent from 148,781.90 to settle at 147,013.59 points, while the Market Capitalisation declined by 1.58 percent from N94.526 trillion to N93.501 trillion. This came despite a significant surge in trading activity, indicating a mixed market sentiment driven by strong sector rotations and profit-taking across major blue-chip counters.
Market activity performance:
A total of 7.325 billion shares worth N156.425 billion exchanged hands this week. A sharp rise compared to 3.575 billion shares valued at N107.011 billion traded last week.
The uptick in liquidity reflects heightened investor participation, particularly in banking and insurance stocks, as well as increased bargain hunting following prior market pullbacks.
Sector contributions:
- Financial Services Industry dominated activity, recording 6.497 billion shares worth N87.381 billion, representing 88.69 percent of total volume and 55.86 percent of total value.
- The Consumer Goods Industry followed with 180.775 million shares valued at N12.015 billion.
- The Services Industry placed third with 138.365 million shares worth N2.402 billion traded across 7,869 deals.
Top three most traded equities:
Trading activity was heavily concentrated in:
- Cornerstone Insurance Plc
- Access Holdings Plc
- Zenith Bank Plc
Together, these accounted for 4.752 billion shares valued at N41.132 billion in 14,304 deals representing 64.87 percent of total turnover volume and 26.29 percent of total value.
Market breadth performance:
Market breadth showed relative strength this week:
- 48 gainers, higher than 20 in the previous week
- 45 losers, lower than 75 previously
- 53 unchanged, up from 51
This suggests improving resilience, even as the broader index closed negative.
Top gainers of the week:
- NCR (Nigeria) Plc gained 32.30 percent (N19.35 N25.60)
- ASO Savings and Loans Plc appreciated by 14.44 percent (N0.90 N1.03)
- Champion Breweries Plc 11.54 percent (N13.00 N14.50)
- International Energy Insurance Plc recording an 11.48 percent (N2.44 N2.72)
- Secure Electronic Technology Plc 10.67 percent (N0.75 N0.83)
Top losers of the week:
- Union Dicon Salt Plc –18.71 percent (N7.75 N6.30)
- Austin Laz & Company Plc –18.62 percent (N2.90 N2.36)
- Multiverse Mining & Exploration Plc –14.47 percent (N11.75 N10.05)
- Dangote Cement Plc –10.00 percent (N660.00 N594.00)
- Academy Press Plc –10.00 percent (N7.50 N6.75)
Sector performance, key drivers:
Despite the decline in the benchmark index, several sectoral indices posted positive performances:
- NGX Insurance Index led with 2.42 percent gain due to renewed interest in underpriced insurance counters.
- NGX AFR Div. Yield and NGX AFR Bank Value rose by 2.18 percent and 1.34 percent, respectively, driven by dividend-focused buying and expectations of strong FY earnings from tier-1 banks.
- NGX Banking Index added 1.26 percent, supported by sustained demand in AccessCorp, Zenith Bank, and Fidelity.
- NGX Consumer Goods Index climbed 0.46 percent, reflecting recovery in select mid-cap consumer stocks.
Meanwhile, Dangote Cement’s 10 percent decline exerted notable downward pressure on the ASI, contributing significantly to the overall market dip.
Investor Sentiment:
Investor sentiment was mixed but improving, as evidenced by:
- Increased trading volume
- Wider spread of gainers
- Reduced number of decliners
- Stronger interest in financial and insurance stocks
However, sustained profit-taking in large-cap industrial goods stocks and cautious positioning ahead of year-end results kept overall sentiment moderate rather than bullish.
Outlook for next week:
The market is expected to trade sideways with a mild bullish bias, supported by:
Positive drivers –
• Increased liquidity in the Financial Services and Insurance sectors
• Bargain hunting in fundamentally strong counters
• Anticipation of year-end corporate actions and early earnings guidance
Potential headwinds –
• Continued selloffs in large-cap stocks such as cement and industrial goods
• Global macroeconomic uncertainty and FX volatility
• Cautious institutional participation
Overall, the market may experience a gradual rebound if buying interest in financials persists and large caps stabilse.
Ogochukwu Onwaeze
