Banking stocks lift NSE’s turnover by N21.6b

Heavy transaction in the shares of some banks, especially Union Bank of Nigeria Plc and Sterling Bank, last week, lifted the volume of shares traded, as a turnover of 2.004 billion shares worth N21.582 billion was recorded in 18,534 deals by investors on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).

This volume of shares traded was, however, higher than a total of 1.097 billion units valued at N15.471 billion that changed hands in 16,288 deals during the preceding week.

Specifically, at the end of transactions last week, the financial services industry (measured by volume), led the activity chart with 1.509 billion shares valued at N13.540 billion traded in 10164 deals; thus contributing 75.32 per cent to the total equity turnover.

The consumer goods industry followed with 237.759 million shares worth N3.441 billion in 3,243 deals.
 The third place was occupied by the conglomerates industry with a turnover of 88.374 million shares worth N272.722 million in 777 deals.

Trading in the top three equities- Union Bank of Nigeria, Sterling Bank and Wema Bank Plc (measured by volume), accounted for 700.918 million shares worth N2.016 billion in 501 deals, contributing 34.98 per cent to the total equity turnover volume.
The NSE All-Share Index and market capitalisation appreciated by 1.10 per cent to close the week at 38,278.55 points and N13.866 trillion respectively.

Similarly, all other indices finished higher with the exception of the NSE Banking and the NSE Oil/Gas indices that depreciated by 1.09% and 1.73% respectively, while the NSE ASeM Index closed flat.
Further breakdown of last week’s transactions showed that 32 equities appreciated in price during the week, higher than 25 in the previous week, as 39 equities depreciated in price, lower than 44 equities of the previous week, while 98 equities remained unchanged lower than 100 equities recorded in the preceding week.

Analysts at Cowry Asset Management said: “We expect bargain hunting activities to be sustained as investors maintain interest amid expectations of better half-year results, coupled with the kick off of the pensions multi-fund structure in July 2018.
For Cordros Capital Limited: “In the absence of near-term one-off positive catalysts (save for likely better-than-expected Q2 earnings results), we posit a cautious approach towards risky assets in the short-to-medium term, despite supportive macroeconomic fundamentals.

“We continue to see value in taking long term position in fundamentally sound stocks, particularly those with consistent dividend paying history.”