Stock market defies election, rises N623 billion in five days | The Guardian Nigeria News

The Nigerian stock market defied usual election fears to consolidate gains for the five trading days as investors took home N623 billion.

Also, the volume of shares traded increased significantly as turnover of 799.8 million shares worth N29.4 billion was recorded in 14,194 deals by investors on the trading floor, over 751.9 million units, worth N20 .5 billion that changed hands in 15,822 deals as of February 17, 2023.

At the close of trades last week, the market cap rose by N623 billion or 2.13 percent to close the week N29.934 trillion, from N29.310 trillion recorded on Friday, February 17, 2023, while the All-Share Index rose with 1,144.75 points from 53,804.46 points to 54,949.21 points.

Similarly, all other indices ended higher, with the exception of the NGX Sovereign Bond index, which fell 0.07 percent in value, while the NGX Insurance and NGX ASeM indices closed flat.

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

Cordros Capital said: “We believe investors will be focused on the outcome of the highly anticipated 2023 presidential election. So we see more of a ‘choppy theme’ as cautious trading dominates trading activity.

“In general, we recommend that investors look for trading opportunities only in fundamentally sound stocks, as the weak macroeconomic narrative continues to be a significant headwind to corporate earnings.”

Vetiva Dealings and Brokerage analysts said: Investors bought up stocks across the board as all sectors closed the day in the green. We expect a mixed session to start the week, while we expect the outcome of the election to determine the direction of the market going into the new week.”

Afrinvest said, “Despite the upbeat investor sentiment, we expect cautious trading next week as post-election developments unravel.”

A further breakdown of last week’s transactions showed that the financial services sector (measured by volume) topped the activity chart with 480.1 million shares worth N6.1 billion traded in 6,319 deals; thus contributing 60.03 percent to the turnover volume. The Utilities industry followed with 126.9 million units worth N12.9 billion in 289 deals. Third place was the ICT industry, with sales of 54.01 million shares worth N5.9 billion in 1,575 deals.

Trading in the top three stocks, namely Geregu Power Plc, Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc and Zenith Bank Plc (by volume), accounting for 307.8 million shares worth N17.5 billion in deals, contributing 38.48 percent to the total share turnover volume.

A total of 5,760 units of Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) worth N1.1 million traded in 40 deals this week compared to a total of 2,895 units worth N452,808.58 traded in 29 deals during the preceding week.

Also, 54,323 units of bonds worth N54.4 million were traded in 9 deals this week, compared to a total of 24,298 units worth N25.5 million traded in 12 deals last week.

On the price movement chart, 39 stocks rose in price during the week higher than 36 stocks in the previous week. On the other hand, 22 stocks also fell in price lower than 27 in the previous week, while 96 stocks remained unchanged, higher than 94 stocks registered in the previous week.