The Nigerian equity market, last week, defied the usual Easter lull to sustain gains for the four trading sessions as the all-share index (ASI) and market capitalisation appreciated by two per cent to close the week at 47,558.45 and N25.64 trillion respectively.

Similarly, all other indices, finished higher except NGX Asem, NGX Growth and Sovereign Bond indices which closed flat. The market opened for four sessions last week as the Federal Government declared Friday a public holiday to commemorate Good Friday.

Notably, bargain hunting in Nigerian Breweries (+11.8 per cent), Zenith Bank (+8.7 per cent), GTCO (+6.5 per cent), Okomuoil (+5.6 per cent), MTN Nigeria (+3.4 per cent) and Dangite Cement (+2.4 per cent) spurred the weekly gain.

The development triggered a month-to-date increase of the MTD and YTD return to +1.2 per cent and 11.2 per cent, respectively.
Also, sectoral performance was broadly positive following gains in the Banking (+5.6 per cent), Consumer Goods (+1.9 per cent), Industrial Goods (+1.6 per cent), Oil and Gas (+1.6 per cent) and Insurance (+1.1 per cent) indices.

Analysts at Codros Capital said: “In the near term, we expect the bulls to retain dominance given the positioning for the Q1, 22 earnings announcements, even as institutional investors continue to search for clues on the direction of yields in the FI market.

“However, we advise investors to take positions in only fundamentally justified stocks as the weak macro environment remains a significant headwind for corporate earnings.”

Vetiva Dealings and Brokerage said: “Despite the profit taking in the banking sector, the NGXBNK closed as the week’s best performing sector with a 5.59 per cent gain.

“We expect to see further profit taking in that space going into the new week amid last week’s record gain.
“We expect Q1 results of some companies to hit the market next week, and we anticipate this to drive market sentiments as well.”

Consequently, a total turnover of 1.25 billion shares worth N22.4 billion was recorded in 23,406 deals by investors on the floor of the exchange, higher than a total of 1.1 billion units, valued at N10.8 billion that was exchanged in 23,471 deals during the preceding week.

The financial services industry (measured by volume) led the activity chart with 975.8 million shares valued at N10.7 billion traded in 13,097 deals; thus contributing 78.2 per cent to the total equity turnover volume.

The consumer goods industry followed with 65.2 million shares worth N1.8 billion in 2,725 deals. The services industry ranked third with a turnover of 42.6 million shares worth 135.7 million in 1,172 deals.

Trading in the top three equities namely Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc, Zenith Bank Plc and Fidelity Bank Plc (measured by volume) accounted for 429.7million shares worth N7.8 billion in 5,871 deals, contributing 34.5 per cent to total equity turnover.

Further review of last week’s transactions showed that a total of 14,242 units of Exchange Traded Products (ETP) valued at N492, 229.4 were traded last week in 14 deals compared with a total of 76,043 units valued at N1.3 million transacted in 31 deals during the preceding week.

Also, 245,278 units of bonds, valued at N253.1 million were traded in 18 deals compared with a total of 21,314 units valued at N22 million transacted last week in 12 deals. 51 equities appreciated during the week, higher than 18 equities depreciated and lower than 31 equities in the previous week.