Stock Market Edges Close to 36% Year-to-Date Return

Kayode Tokede

The stock market segment of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) moved closer to 36 per cent Year-to-Date (YtD) return as the market continued on its positive momentum for the third consecutive week.

Capital market analysts have projected positive sentiment to linger on the stock market in the last trading week of the year, as investors’ bargain-hunting in fundamental stocks.

The Nigerian market extended its winning streak in the just-concluded week, achieving a historic milestone as the benchmark NGX All-Share Index (ASI) surpassed the psychological 100,000 basis point threshold for the first time since July 2024.

The increase was driven by investors’ renewed confidence across multiple sectors. This rally was buoyed by favourable market dynamics, including festive season optimism and Christmas-related activities.

The consistent rise underscores strong investor appetite for Nigerian equities, spurred by year-end window dressing and a positive macroeconomic outlook. The year-to-date return on the NGX ASI as at December 20, 2024 went up to an impressive 35.25 YtD per cent increase.

The domestic market last week sustained its bullish momentum with the All-Share Index recording a week-on-week (W-o-W) gain of 1.76 per cent to close at 101,129.09 basis points. Also, market capitalization rose by N1.06 trillion to close the week at N61.303 trillion.

Meanwhile, sectoral performance remained predominantly positive. The NGX Insurance and NGX Banking indices emerged as the week’s top-performing sectors, posting solid gains of 8.83 per cent and 3.23 per cent W-o-W. The NGX-Consumer Goods and NGX Oil & Gas sectors also performed commendably, rising by 2.92 per cent and 0.99 per cent for the week. However, the NGX Industrial Goods index recorded a weekly decline of 0.83 per cent.

Also, the market breadth for the week was positive as 61 equities appreciated in price, 26 equities depreciated in price, while 66 equities remained unchanged. MRS Oil Nigeria led the gainers table by 36.36 per cent to close at N180.00, per share. Eterna followed with a gain of 32.36 per cent to close at N29.45, while Honeywell Flour Mill went up by 31.52 per cent to close to N6.05, per share.

On the other side, John Holt led the decliners table by 18.67 per cent to close at N5.88, per share. Multiverse Mining and Exploration followed with a loss of 18.58 per cent to close at N4.60, while University Press declined by 16.27 per cent to close at N3.50, per share.

Overall, a total turnover of 2.536 billion shares worth N91.382 billion in 51,406 deals was traded last week by investors on the floor of the Exchange, in contrast to a total of 2.729 billion shares valued at N49.845 billion that exchanged hands previous week in 43,298 deals. 

The Financial Services Industry (measured by volume) led the activity chart with 1.680 billion shares valued at N23.486 billion traded in 22,766 deals; contributing 66.24 per cent and 25.70 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively. The ICT industry followed with 201.287 million shares worth N3.155 billion in 2,840 deals, while the Services Industry traded a turnover of 182.275 million shares worth N7.961 billion in 3,019 deals.

Trading in the top three equities; Sterling Financial Holdings Company, Wema Bank and E-Tranzact International (measured by volume) accounted for 623.895 million shares worth N3.981 billion in 1,544 deals, contributing 24.61 per cent and 4.36 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.

Looking ahead, analysts at Cowry Asset Management Limited stated that “the Nigerian equities market is expected to maintain its bullish momentum, supported by year-end window dressing activities by fund managers.

“Market participants will also closely monitor the impact of the recently published Consumer Price Index (CPI) data on their portfolios and market strategies. Optimism surrounding improved macroeconomic indicators and ongoing portfolio rebalancing efforts is likely to sustain market activity. As the year draws to a close, strategic positioning is anticipated to guide trading decisions, promising an eventful conclusion to a record-breaking year for the local bourse.”

“We expect bullish sentiments to persist in the coming week, driven by positive market momentum and sustained investor interest in fundamentally strong stocks,” analysts at Cordros Research added.