Onome Amuge
Investors on the Nigerian Xchange (NGX) enjoyed a holiday-shortened yet profitable week as the Nigerian equities market sustained its bullish momentum, adding N609.27 billion to investors’ pockets. This profit follows on the heels of a N1.061 trillion gain the previous week.
Despite only three trading sessions due to the Christmas and Boxing Day breaks, the Nigerian stock market continued its upward trend, recording a N609.27 billion profit and a market capitalisation increase of 0.75 percent from N61.303 trillion to N61.912 trillion.
The All-Share Index (ASI) also demonstrated growth, rising by 0.99 percent to close at 102,133.30 points, from its previous week’s close of 101,129.09 points.
The Nigerian equities market started the shortened trading week on a positive note, with investors gaining N137.64 billion at the close of the first session on Monday, December 23, 2024.
The market continued to climb on the second trading day of the week, Christmas Eve, Tuesday, December 24, 2024, with investors profiting an additional N503.60 billion, bringing the total profit for the two-day trading week to N641.24 billion.
The Nigerian equities market observed a holiday break from Wednesday, December 25 to Thursday, December 26, 2024, to mark the Christmas celebration.
However, the market experienced a setback following trading resumption on Friday, December 27, 2024, with investors taking a hit of N31.97 billion in losses, dampening the overall positive performance of the week.
The trading activity on the NGX saw a decline in volume and value compared to the previous week, due to the holiday-shortened trading week.
Investors exchanged a total of 1.387 billion shares valued at N52.023 billion in 33,411 deals, compared to 2.536 billion shares worth N91.382 billion transacted in 51,406 deals during the previous week.
The Financial Services Industry, characterised by its high volume of trading activity, emerged as the leader in terms of trading volume for the week, accounting for 63.58 percent of the total equity turnover volume with 881.646 million shares traded in 14,968 deals.
The industry also made a notable contribution to the total equity turnover value, contributing 34.17 percent with a total value of N17.774 billion.
The Oil and Gas sector traded 103.763 million shares valued at N12.438 billion in 4,554 deals, securing the second position on the activity chart for the week.
The Services Industry was the third most dominant industry as it recorded a turnover of 98.622 million shares worth N482.169 million in 1,998 deals.
The top three most actively traded equities in terms of volume, namely United Bank for Africa Plc, Universal Insurance Plc, and Zenith Bank Plc, accounted for a significant proportion of the total equity turnover volume, amounting to 294.032 million shares. This represented 21.20 percent of the total equity turnover volume for the week.
Sixty-four (64) equities appreciated in price during the week, higher than sixty-one (61) equities in the previous week. Twenty (20) equities depreciated in price lower than twenty-six (26) in the previous week, while sixty-nine (69) equities remained unchanged, higher than sixty-six (66) recorded in the previous week.
Ikeja Hotel Plc registered the highest share price increase with a 32.79 percent increase, followed closely by Multiverse Mining And Exploration Plc with a share price growth of 32.61 percent.
PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc was also among the top gainers for the week as its share price was up 26.09 percent.
Thomas Wyatt Nig. Plc’s share price decline of 10 percent was the most dramatic downturn in share prices for the week, followed by Aradel Holdings Plc’s loss of 9.64 percent of its share prices. Austin Laz & Company Plc also experienced a significant share price decline, shedding 9.29 percent of its value, as these three companies emerged as the biggest losers of the shortened trading week.
