The banking index emerged as the best-performing sector on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) last week with a 2.33 per cent gain following sustained investor demand for FCMB, First HoldCo and AccessCorp.

The consumer goods index followed with a 1.97 per cent gain, supported by renewed buying interest in Vitafoam and NASCON.

However, the industrial goods index declined marginally by 0.17 per cent, reflecting mild profit-taking in CAP after its recent gains, while the oil and gas index declined by 0.02 per cent as profit-taking in some counters offset buying interest in Oando and JapaulGold.

The insurance index recorded the weakest sectoral performance, declining by 3.31 per cent amid increased selling pressure and profit-taking in Sovereign Trust Insurance, Consolidated Hallmark Holdings and SUNU Assurances.

Consequently, the equities market closed the week on a positive note as the All-Share Index rose by 0.12 per cent week-on-week to close at 245,573.60 points.

Similarly, market capitalisation increased by about N187 billion to N158.51 trillion, while the market’s year-to-date return improved to 57.81 per cent.

However, market breadth remained negative with 26 stocks gaining against 63 losers, resulting in a breadth ratio of 0.41 times. The trend reflected cautious sentiment among investors, as declining stocks continued to outnumber gainers.

Trading activity was also mixed during the week. Although the total value of transactions increased by 4.70 per cent week-on-week to N139.17 billion, trading volume declined by 65.64 per cent, while the number of deals fell by 8.19 per cent.

In all, investors exchanged 5.34 billion shares valued at N139.17 billion in 262,224 deals during the week.

On the gainers’ chart, AVA Capital emerged as the best-performing stock, appreciating by 33.3 per cent during the week. It was followed by FCMB, which gained 13.1 per cent, First HoldCo added 12.2 per cent, FTG Insurance increased by 11.1 per cent, and Linkage Assurance, rose by 10.6 per cent.

On the losers’ chart, Thomas Wyatt led the decline, falling by 26.7 per cent, followed by Trans-Nationwide Express, which depreciated by 23.8 per cent, Consolidated Hallmark Insurance by 22.7 per cent, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated by 18.9 per cent and Consolidated Hallmark Holdings by 16.5 per cent.

The overall performance showed continued selective positioning by investors, with funds rotating into fundamentally strong sectors and stocks while profit-taking persisted in counters that had recorded
significant price appreciation.

As the earnings season progresses, corporate results, valuations and dividend expectations are expected to remain key drivers of market direction.