May 15, (THEWILL) – The securities of three Tier-1 deposit money banks (DMBs), Access Bank Plc, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc and Zenith Bank Plc emerged the top traded in the Financial Services Sector for the week ended May 13, 2022, data from The Nigerian Exchange Weekly Statistics Report have shown. The three lenders recorded a total share turnover volume of 31,680,958 from 693 deals to lead the Financial Services Sector.
Access Bank Plc recorded 9,719,846 share turnover volume in 183 deals while UBA’s 192 transaction deals resulted in 11,686,086 share turnover volumes. Zenith Bank securities were traded in 318 deals recording 10,275,026 share turnover volumes. FBN Holdings under ‘Other Financial Institutions’ sub-sector recorded share turnover volume of 6,456,942 in 159 deals.
Specifically, Access, UBA and Zenith Bank securities account for 83 percent of the total Financial Services 38,147,900 share turnover volume at the end of the week, according to The Nigerian Exchange Weekly Report seen by THEWILL. The ICT Sector recorded 632,901 share turnover volumes in 449 deals
The Industrial Goods sector recorded a total of 15,289,771 share turnover volumes in 579 deals, while Oil & Gas securities traded in 28 deals recorded 210,127 share turnover volume.
Generally, for Equity market, a total turnover of 1.816 billion shares worth N27.194 billion in 36,286 deals was traded last week by investors on the floor of the Exchange, in contrast to a total of 1,598 billion shares valued at N19.603 billion that exchanged hands in the previous week in 21,494 deals.
The Financial Services Industry (measured by volume) led the activity chart with 904.860 million shares valued at N8.498 billion traded in 12,883 deals; thus contributing 49.82 percent and 31.25 percent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively. The Conglomerates Industry followed with 263.830 million shares worth N540.313 million in 1,651 deals.
The third place was The Consumer Goods Industry, with a turnover of 238.964 million shares worth N5.816 billion in 7,635 deals. Trading in the top three equities namely Transnational Corporation Plc, Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc and Jaiz Bank Plc (measured by volume) accounted for 459,179 million shares worth N3.294 billion in 3,645 deals, contributing 25.28 percent and 12.11 percent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
For the Bond market, a total of 43,629 units valued at N48.535 million were traded this week in 33 deals compared with a total of 13,800 units valued at N14.387 million transacted last week in 7 deals.
The NGX All-Share Index and Market Capitalization appreciated by 4.25 percent to close the week at 53,098.46 and N28.626 trillion respectively.
Similarly, all other indices finished higher with the exception of NGX Insurance, NGX AFR Div Yield, and NGX Sovereign bond indices which depreciated at 1.9 2.82 percent, and 0.02 percent, while, NGX Asem index closed flat.
Reports on the performance of the Nigerian Exchange since the years have revealed that the nation’s bourse showcases an All Share Index (ASI) that crossed 50,000 as of Wednesday, May 4th , with trading closing at 50,126 points.
This is the first time the All-Share Index, which is the broad index that measures the performance of Nigerian Stocks, has exceeded the 50,000 mark since July 2008 when it closed at 53,110.
The ASI rose to as high as 65,652.4 in February 2008, its highest ever, and had since then not exceeded the 50,000 point.
Total market capitalisation now stands at a record high of N27.9 trillion up from N22.2 trillion at the end of December 2021, reflecting a 25.7 percent growth as stocks have now gained a significant amount of N5.7 trillion within 17 weeks of trading.
Experts explain that against the backdrop of a global sell-off, Nigerian ASI has defied odds gaining for the last 18 straight days taking the year-to-date gains to over 21.5 percent. The ASI is now trading at 51, 903 and is likely to keep sustaining the surge.
Reports add that globally, stocks have had a difficult year exacerbated by rising inflation and geopolitical challenges.
Notwithstanding the headwinds faced by the Nigerian economy characterized by rising inflation, scarcity of forex, and a rise in Ponzi schemes, stocks continue to rise amidst an increase in demand from investors with little to no alternative investments.
Reports further reveal that at the end of last week (May 6), stocks like MTN, BUA, Nigerian Breweries and Guinness had all racked up double-digit gains year-to-date leading to a surge in share prices that has unlocked tens of billions in market valuation for investors.
Experts have offered possible reasons for the bullish trend in the Nigerian Exchange this year to include the fact that most investors are ‘overweight on fixed income securities such as treasury bills, bonds, and commercial papers’, thus, they see the stock market as a viable alternative.
The high dividend yields from some valuable Nigerian stocks also offers an attraction, as dividend yields for some stocks traded at a higher premium compared to fixed income investments which offered single-digit yields.
Also, most of the driving volumes are local investors rather than foreign investors.
During the global financial crisis, Nigeria’s ASI fell from a height of 66,000 basis points in March 2008 to less than 22,000 point by January 2019, with over N8 trillion or 70 percent of the total market capitalisation of The Exchange wiped out.
About the Author
Sam Diala is a Bloomberg Certified Financial Journalist with over a decade of experience in reporting Business and Economy. He is Business Editor at THEWILL Newspaper, and believes that work, not wishes, creates wealth.
