The Nigerian Exchange Limited recorded a strong rebound last week, with investors gaining over N4.57 trillion despite the ongoing N2.2 trillion Initial Public Offering of Dangote Petroleum Refinery.
This followed a loss of N1.9 trillion the previous week, which had been driven by widespread profit-taking across major stocks.
According to Vanguard, analysts attributed the rebound to renewed buying interest across selected stocks, which pushed the benchmark indicators higher.
The NGX market capitalisation, which represents the total value of equities listed on the Exchange, rose to N162.157 trillion from N157.587 trillion recorded the previous week.
Similarly, the NGX All Share Index, ASI, which tracks the price movement of listed equities, climbed to 249,804.56 points from 243,052.74 points.
A total of 3.249 billion shares worth N237.986 billion were traded by investors in 287,919 deals last week, compared with 3.647 billion shares valued at N130.151 billion that exchanged hands in 244,777 deals the previous week.
The Financial Services Industry, measured by volume, led activity on the exchange with 2.581 billion shares worth N97.212 billion traded in 138,900 deals, accounting for 79.43 per cent and 40.85 per cent of total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
The Services Industry followed with 131.102 million shares worth N2.731 billion transacted in 15,084 deals.
The ICT Industry placed third, recording a turnover of 114.622 million shares worth N21.541 billion in 29,152 deals.
Trading in the top three equities by volume, namely Fidelity Bank Plc, Sterling Financial Holdings Company Plc and Mutual Benefits Assurance Plc, accounted for 1.229 billion shares worth N15.942 billion in 7,796 deals, representing 37.83 per cent and 6.70 per cent of total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
Commenting on market performance and outlook, analysts at InvestData Consulting Limited stated: “The improvement in market activity came as the NGX continued to recover from the weakness recorded earlier in the month. Investors are now watching whether the recent rebound can develop into a more sustained upward move or whether profit-taking will emerge around key technical levels.”
On the outlook, they said: “The market enters the trading session with its short-term recovery intact, although investors are likely to remain cautious as the ASI approaches the 250,000-point resistance area.”
“Sustained buying across large-capitalised stocks could provide the momentum needed for the index to test higher levels. However, if buying interest becomes concentrated in only a handful of stocks, the broader market could struggle to maintain the pace of the recovery.”
