The Nigerian Exchange Group Limited All-Share Index and market capitalisation appreciated by 0.70 per cent and 0.72 per cent respectively to close last week at 50,722.33 and N27.358tn respectively.
The first trading week in August was marked with a bullish return after running with a bearish sentiment in July.
Investors traded 705.636 million shares worth N12.850bn in 22,124 deals on the floor of the Exchange, in contrast to 1.546bn shares valued at N16.289bn that exchanged hands the previous week in 23,873 deals.
The financial services industry, measured by volume, led the activity chart with 442.525 million shares valued at N4.345bn in 9,995 deals; thus contributing 62.71 per cent and 33.81 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively. The consumer goods industry followed with 82.126 million shares worth N2.176bn in 3,875 deals.
In the third place was the conglomerates industry, with a turnover of 51.083 million shares worth N242.084m in 694 deals.
Trading in the top three equities were Guaranty Trust Holding Company, Zenith Bank and FBN Holdings, measured by volume accounted for 173.852 million shares worth N3.073bn in 4,324 deals, contributing 24.64 per cent and 23.91 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
Similarly, all other indices finished higher with the exception of The NGX-Main Board, NGX Insurance, NGX Industrial Goods and NGX Sovereign Bond indices, which depreciated by 1.16 per cent, 0.37 per cent, 5.76 per cent and 0.07 per cent, while, The NGX ASeM index closed flat.
Forty-one equities appreciated in price during the week against 11 in the previous week. Twenty-two equities depreciated in price against 53 in the previous week, while 93 equities remained unchanged against 92 equities recorded in the previous week.
A total of 16,247 units valued at N400,448.65 were traded in 24 deals compared against 35,532 units valued at N1.715m transacted the previous week in 26 deals.
A total of 118,689 units valued at N120.856m were traded this week in 35 deals against the previous week’s 94,006 units valued at N100.359m in 18 deals.
Financial analyst, Ogidiaka Ovie, attributed the first bullish return in August to the companies’ Annual General Meetings recently, which could have drawn the attention of investors.
His words, “705.636 million shares valued at N12.85bn in 22,124 deals were traded this week on the floor of the exchange.
“The market, which was bearish for most part of the week, finally bounced back to closed in green for the week. The performance can be likely attributed to the AGM of most companies and the impressive performance of major indices, which most have wooed more investors to them.”
However, according to Ezekiel Oluwayemi, the determinant in the previous week and last week’s trade is the price, noting that the price determines the outcome of the volume.
“The implication of all these is that price actually plays a vital role in the two weeks’ trading as a key determinant factor and it really affects the volumes most importantly,” he said.
