Equities market close bullish, indices up by N33b

Whether the bullish run will sustain this week at the nation’s equities market will depend on the quality of half year (H1) results the tier-one banks will unveil in the days ahead.

The Nigerian equities market ended last week on a bullish note, occasioned by price gains recorded by major blue chip companies, causing market indices to appreciate by N33billion.

Specifically, at the close of trading on Friday, market capitalisation rose by N33 billion or 0.2 per cent, from N13.133trillion recorded last week Thursday to N133.66trillion on Friday.

The All-share index also rose by 95.75 points from 38,102.85 to 38,198.60.Analysts noted that the week-on-week performance was driven by investor interest in consumer and industrial goods stocks, following impressive second quarter 2017 earnings releases, and short-lived interest in banking shares, as investors positioned ahead of interim dividend declaration by tier one banks yet to release their audited half year results.

A look at sectorial performance for last week revealed that consumer goods index gained 9.71 per cent, leading the gainers, followed by the industrial goods index with a gain of 2.89 per cent as investors demanded for the shares of Nestle and CCNN, respectively.

On the other hand, insurance stocks went down by 3.02 per cent, oil and gas depreciated by 2.78 per cent, and banking shed 0.94 per cent, as investors sold off the shares of NEM Insurance, Forte Oil, and FBN Holdings respectively.

However, on the price movement chart, 30 stocks appreciated in price while 37 constituted the losers’ chart.Volume of shares traded also decreased by 39.74 per cent to 1.52 billion shares with Guaranty Trust Bank, Nigerian Breweries, and Nestle accounting for 56 per cent of the market volume

Analysts at Afrinvest Limited, said the equities market may trade sideways in early trades due to profit taking in consumer goods counters, which could offset bargain hunting in banking stocks whose earnings are yet to be released.

According to them, “last week, Zenith Bank Plc released a stellar half year results, and we expect unreleased tier-one lenders reports to follow the positive trend. Guaranty Trust Bank is due for release this week, and as the general mood in the market remains bullish, we expect the benchmark index to close positive this week.”

Analysts at Cordros Capital, projected that “In the new week, we believe rally will resurface in the banking sector, as investors’ position ahead of UBA, Guaranty Trust Bank and Access Bank’s half year corporate earnings. We believe the quality of earnings by the banks will dictate market performance.”