New listings by Fidson Healthcare and Chapel Hill Denham’s NREIT headlined a N177.7 bn trading week on the Nigerian Exchange, signalling a shift in market appetite on Friday.
While total turnover value dipped slightly, the week closed with a notable reduction in losers, hinting at a recovery in market sentiment heading into mid-March.
Investors on the floor of the Exchange traded a total of 3.695 billion shares valued at N177.687 bn in 370,980 deals, a performance that stood in contrast to the 5.494 billion shares worth N196.709 bn that exchanged hands in 370,233 deals during the previous week.
The week’s trading activities were bolstered by two major additions to the daily official list of the NGX.
In specific terms, Fidson Healthcare Plc successfully listed an additional 105,003,725 ordinary shares arising from the company’s employee share scheme, effectively increasing its total issued and fully paid-up capital from 2,294,996,275 to 2,400,000,000 ordinary shares.
Similarly, the real estate sector saw a capital injection as Chapel Hill Denham Management Limited listed 68,158,000 units of its Series 5 Nigeria Real Estate Investment Trust at N103.00 per unit.
This listing, part of a broader N400 bn issuance programme, pushed the total outstanding units of the NREIT from 1.588 billion to 1.656 billion units.
Sectoral analysis revealed that the Financial Services Industry remained the primary engine of market activity. Measured by volume, the sector led the chart with 2.444 billion shares valued at N72.029 billion traded in 145,628 deals, accounting for 66.14% of the total equity turnover volume and 40.54% of its value.
The Oil and Gas Industry secured the second position with 326.073 million shares worth N39.510 bn in 36,458 deals, followed by the Services Industry, which recorded a turnover of 218.374 million shares valued at N2.012 bn in 18,575 deals.
Among individual equities, the trio of Jaiz Bank Plc, Fortis Global Insurance Plc, and Access Holdings Plc emerged as the most heavily traded by volume.
The three stocks alone accounted for 661.242 million shares worth N8.062 bn in 38,534 deals, contributing 17.90% to the total equity turnover volume.
The Exchange-Traded Products segment also witnessed growth, with 3.800 million units valued at N548.240 m traded in 4,487 deals, surpassing the 3.603 million units worth N409.595 m recorded in the preceding week.
Price movement data suggested a gradual easing of bearish pressure as market breadth improved. Forty-four equities appreciated in price during the week, an increase from the thirty-two gainers recorded previously.
Meanwhile, the number of depreciating equities fell to fifty-eight from sixty-nine in the prior week, and forty-six equities remained unchanged.
This cooling of sell-offs, combined with the new listings, provided a stable floor for the market as it transitioned into the second week of March.
However, Cowry Asset Management Limited, in a note to investors on the weekend, said, “Temporary profit-taking and relatively subdued trading activity may limit the pace of gains. Consequently, market performance in the coming week is expected to be driven largely by stock-specific developments and investor sentiment across key sectors.
“In the near term, we expect the domestic equities market to maintain a cautiously positive tone as investors continue to position in fundamentally sound and undervalued stocks following the recent rebound.
“Bargain hunting and selective accumulation, particularly in large-capitalisation and fundamentally strong counters, could provide support to the benchmark NGX All-Share Index.”
