Dividend announcements for the 2024 financial year by corporate Organisations reversed the downward trend on the Nigerian Exchange, generating a ₦437 billion gain for investors.
By the end of the week, the NGX All-Share Index rose by 0.66% to 105,660.64, while market capitalization reached ₦66.26 trillion.
Also, all other indices closed higher, except the NGX Oil/Gas and NGX Commodity indices, which declined by 1.65% and 0.76%, respectively, while the NGX ASeM index remained flat.
The NGX Banking Index led sectoral performance, rising 4.28% week-on-week, driven by investor interest in GTCO, FCMB Group, Fidelity Bank, and First HoldCo. The NGX Insurance Index followed with a 3.21% gain, while the NGX Consumer Goods and NGX Industrial indices edged up 0.12% and 0.01%, respectively, boosted by gains in Mutual Benefits Assurance, SUNU Assurance, Champion Brewery, Ikeja Hotel, and UPDC.
The ASI’s year-to-date return improved as bulls dominated three of five trading sessions, signaling renewed investor confidence. Market participation remained strong, with a positive breadth of 1.19x, as 43 gainers outpaced 36 decliners.
Trading activity surged, with total transactions rising 7.48% week-on-week to 61,309 deals. Share volume jumped 159.2% to 7.52 billion units, while the total trade value skyrocketed 730.04% to ₦398.95 billion.
The surge in market activity was driven by increased institutional participation and repositioning ahead of dividend payouts.
Lafarge Africa Plc, Sovereign Trust Insurance Plc, and Cutix Plc led trading, accounting for 5.55 billion shares worth ₦332.38 billion across 1,300 deals. They contributed 73.73% of total traded volume and 83.31% of total market value.
On the downside, profit-taking and exits led to steep declines in some stocks. Africa Prudential Plc was the worst performer, dropping 60.45%, followed by CWG (-11.11%), John Holt (-10.0%), UH REIT (-9.9%), and United Capital (-9.8%).
