Investors in the equities market recorded gains worth N1.9tn in January. The market capitalisation of equities, which opened the year at N12.96tn, closed January at N14.86tn. The stock market also witnessed the listing of BUA Cement Plc, which added N1.18tn to the market capitalisation, while shares appreciated by N719bn.
At the end of the last trading week in the month, a total turnover of 1.56 billion shares worth N26.07bn in 21,444 deals were traded by investors on the floor of the Exchange, in contrast to a total of 1.24 billion shares valued at N22.76bn that exchanged hands the previous week in 21,156 deals.
Profit-taking activity dominated the market as the index shed 265 basis points week on week driven by sell-offs recorded in the banking and industrial goods sectors. Market participants took profits from BUA Cement, Lafarge Africa Plc, among others. Analysts at Vetiva Capital Management Limited said the All Share Index fell below 29,000bps on Friday due to persistent sell-offs experienced during last week.
The financial services industry (measured by volume) led the activity chart for last week with 1.15 billion shares valued at N13.65bn traded in 11,306 deals, thus contributing 73.93 per cent and 52.35 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively. The consumer goods industry followed with 137.12 million shares worth N3.18bn in 2,908 deals.
The third place was occupied by the Information and Communication Technology industry, with a turnover of 94.46 million shares worth N6.55bn in 894 deals. Trading in the top three equities namely, Veritas Kapital Assurance Plc, Zenith Bank Plc and Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (measured by volume), accounted for 604.67 million shares worth N9.37bn in 4,069 deals, contributing 38.74 per cent and 35.94 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
In the exchange traded products market, a total of 29,514 units valued at N7.78m were traded in 14 deals, compared with a total of 141 units valued at N520,511 transacted the previous week in six deals. A total of 24,014 units of the Federal Government bonds valued at N26.12m were traded last week in 12 deals, compared with a total of 59,632 units valued at N71.50m transacted the previous week in 24 deals.
The top five gainers were Linkage Assurance Plc, Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals Plc, Vitafoam Nigeria Plc, NPF Microfinance Bank Plc and Cornerstone Insurance Plc, whose respective share prices gained 18.75 per cent, 17.02 per cent, 10 per cent, 9.73 per cent and 9.26 per cent.
The top five losers for last week were Eterna Plc, Honeywell Flour Mill Plc, Associated Bus Company Plc, UACN Plc and Unilever Nigeria Plc, which saw their respective share prices decline by 23.81 per cent, 17.80 per cent, 17.07 per cent, 15.64 per cent and 14.53 per cent. Analysts at Vetiva said with more 2019 financial year earnings results expected to roll in this week, a mixed reaction was expected at the start of the week.
https://punchng.com/investors-reaped-n1-9tn-from-shares-in-january/
