Onome Amuge
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) had a great week, appreciating 8.32 percent over the period of January 22-26, 2024. This surge saw the NGX gain 7,863.76 points, from a previous close of 94,538.12 points to end the week at 102,401.88 points. The significant increase in the NGX is undoubtedly good news for investors, who saw the market cap rise by N4.303 trillion, from N51.735 trillion to N56.038 trillion.
Despite the significant gains that most indices posted during the week, there were a few exceptions. The NGX Banking index fell 1.63 percent, the NGX Insurance index dropped 4.10 percent, the NGX AFR Bank Value index was down 2.36 percent, the NGX MERI Growth index dipped 3.71percent, the NGX Growth index decreased 1.38 percent, and the NGX Sovereign Bond index saw a decline of 0.68 percent.
It’s interesting to note that despite the marketwide gains, the NGX ASeM index, which tracks the performance of companies on the Growth Board, remained unchanged for the week.
In terms of trading activity, last week saw a total of 2.981 billion shares, worth N57.873 billion, trade hands across 67,962 deals on the exchange. This represents a significant drop in trading volume and value compared to the previous week, which saw a total of 5.179 billion shares, worth N77.797 billion, change hands in 79,012 deals.
The financial services industry was the most active industry for the week as it emerged as the leader in both trading volume and value. The industry accounted for 1.863 billion shares, worth N26.774 billion, in 29,276 deals. This represents a significant 62.50 percent of the total equity turnover volume and 46.26 percent of the total value traded.
Next in line was the conglomerates industry, which accounted for 10.37 percent of the total equity turnover volume and 8.71 percent of the total value. The industry recorded a total of 309.432 million shares traded, worth N5.201 billion, in 5,882 deals.
Following closely was the oil and gas industry which contributed 8.71 percent of the total equity turnover volume and 8.51 percent of the total value. A total of 259.223 million shares, worth N4.892 billion, were traded in 5,658 deals within this sector.
In terms of the top equities, three stood out for their impressive trading volumes: Transnational Corporation Plc, United Bank for Africa Plc, and Sterling Financial Holdings Company Plc. Together, they accounted for 686.291 million shares, which is equal to 23.02 percent of the total equity turnover volume. The value of these shares was even more impressive, totaling N12.943 billion, which is equivalent to 22.36 percent of the total equity turnover value.
