The Nigerian equities market began March on a positive note as investors gained an estimated N2.67 trillion in market value during the week, pushing total market capitalisation to about N126.43 trillion.
Data from Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) for the week ended March 6 showed that the benchmark All-Share Index (ASI) advanced by 2.15 per cent, closing at 196,968.15 points.
The performance marked a recovery from the previous week’s decline and reflected renewed buying interest in selected stocks across major sectors of the market. As a result, the equities market’s year-to-date return rose to about 26.58 per cent, highlighting sustained investor appetite for Nigerian stocks since the beginning of the year.
Despite the improvement in the benchmark index and overall market capitalisation, market sentiment remained mixed. A total of 44 equities recorded price gains, while 58 declined and 46 remained unchanged during the period under review.
Analysts at Cowry Asset Management said the positive close was largely driven by renewed interest in fundamentally strong stocks, although selective profit-taking limited the breadth of the rally.
“The Nigerian equities market closed the week on a positive note, recovering part of the losses recorded in the previous week as the NGX All-Share Index advanced by 2.15 per cent week-on-week,” the firm stated.
Trading activity, however, moderated compared with the previous week. Investors traded 3.695 billion shares valued at N177.69 billion in 370,980 deals, compared with 5.494 billion shares worth N196.71 billion in the preceding week.
Sector analysis showed that the Financial Services industry dominated trading activity, accounting for 66.14 per cent of total volume and 40.54 per cent of market value, with 2.444 billion shares valued at N72.03 billion traded in 145,628 deals.
The Oil and Gas sector followed with 326.07 million shares valued at N39.51 billion in 36,458 deals, while the Services industry ranked third with 218.37 million shares worth N2.01 billion traded in 18,575 deals.
At the individual stock level, trading in Jaiz Bank Plc, Fortis Global Insurance Plc and Access Holdings Plc accounted for 661.24 million shares valued at N8.06 billion in 38,534 deals, representing 17.9 per cent of total traded volume and 4.54 per cent of total value during the week.
Analysts expect the equities market to maintain a cautious upward trend in the near term as investors continue to position in fundamentally sound and undervalued stocks.
According to Cowry Asset Management, bargain hunting and selective accumulation in large-capitalisation stocks could support the benchmark index, although intermittent profit-taking may moderate the pace of gains.
Sectoral performance was largely positive, with most indices closing higher except the insurance sector.
The Oil and Gas index recorded the strongest performance, rising 9.43 per cent, supported by buying interest in Aradel Holdings Plc and Oando Plc.
The Industrial Goods index gained 3.89 per cent, driven by improved demand for shares of Premier Paints Plc, Lafarge Africa Plc and Dangote Cement Plc.
Similarly, the Consumer Goods sector rose by 1.12 per cent, while the Banking index recorded a marginal gain of 0.24 per cent on the back of renewed demand for shares of Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, Zenith Bank Plc and Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc.
In contrast, the Insurance index declined by 1.88 per cent, reflecting selling pressure in stocks such as AXA Mansard Insurance Plc, Universal Insurance Plc and Cornerstone Insurance Plc.
Among the gainers, Fortis Global Insurance Plc led with a 58.5 per cent increase in share price, followed by Premier Paints Plc with 32.7 per cent, while Eterna Plc rose 28.7 per cent.
Other notable gainers included Nigerian Exchange Group Plc, which appreciated by 21.7 per cent, and UACN Plc, which gained 20.6 per cent.
On the losers’ chart, McNichols Plc recorded the highest decline, dropping 24.4 per cent, followed by Mecure Industries Plc with 18.9 per cent, and Multiverse Mining and Exploration Plc which fell 18.7 per cent.
Other stocks that declined included Jaiz Bank Plc, which lost 18.4 per cent, Omatek Ventures Plc with 15.4 per cent, and Africa Prudential Plc which dropped 15.3 per cent amid profit-taking by investors.
Meanwhile, corporate developments were also recorded during the week. Fidson Healthcare Plc listed an additional 105,003,725 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each on the NGX Daily Official List under its Employee Share Scheme.
Following the supplementary listing, the company’s issued and fully paid share capital increased from 2,294,996,275 shares to 2.4 billion shares.
