MONDAY 11th October, 2021: Bargain hunting in tier-one banks, including FBN Holdings PLC and Ecobank Transnational Incorporated PLC has floated transactions on the equities sector of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) last week, as the All-Share Index and market capitalisation appreciated by 1.61 per cent and 1.62 per cent to close the week at 40,868.36 and N21.296 trillion respectively ahead of the third quarter (Q3) earnings and accompanied dividend declarations.
All other indices finished higher except NGX insurance and NGX consumer goods indices that shed 1.51per cent and 0.51.per cent respectively, while the NGX ASeM, NGX Growth and NGX Sovereign bond Indices closed flat.
According to some analysts, the five consecutive days rally and increasing buying interest across the sectors has signaled a gradual return of investors’ confidence as funds flowed into equities assets with investors hedging against inflation, regardless of the decline recorded in the last five months.
Speaking on the sustainability of the rally, the Chief Research Officer of Investdata Consulting Limited, Ambrose Omordion said, “We should expect a slight pullback on profit-taking this week or next week before the Q3 numbers starting hitting the market.
“The state of the expected earnings reports and level of liquidity in the equity space will determine the possibility of another rally in the new month and quarter.”
Last week, a total turnover of 2.179 billion shares worth N21.9 billion was recorded in 22,438 deals by investors on the floor of the exchange.
This volume of shares was however higher than a total of 2.187 billion units worth N16.1 billion that changed hands during the preceding week in 14,377 deals.