Mideast ceasefire, positive sentiment drive stock market to N1trn gain

The moves for peace in the Middle East and investors’ positive sentiment propelled the stock market to over N1.0 trillion gain last week.

The NGX market capitalisation, which represents the value of investments in the market rose to N75.576 trillion from N74.533 the previous week.

Another stock market indicator, NGX All Share Index, ASI, advanced by 1.6%  Week-on-Week, WoW to 119,995.76 points from 118,138.22 points, driven by gains recorded in Dangote Sugar which leaped by 19.1%, followed by Okomu Oil 15.7%, Zenith Bank 15.2%, BUA Cement 8.5% and Transcorp Hotel 7.2%.

As a result, the Month-to-Date, MtD, and Year-to-Date, YtD, returns settled higher at 7.4% and 16.6%, respectively.

Meanwhile, trading activity was mixed, as trading volume increased by 9.4% W/W, while trading value declined by 11.4% W/W. Sectoral performance was broadly bullish, as the Industrial Goods Index rose by 3.9%,  followed by Insurance Index 3.7%, Consumer Goods Index  3.7% and Banking Index  2.6%, while the Oil & Gas Index plummeted  by  2.2%.

Reacting to the market development, analysts at Cordros Capital stated : ” Next week, we expect choppy trading characterized by profit-taking in recent outperformers and sustained bargain hunting in undervalued stocks. Market performance might also be influenced by portfolio rebalancing ahead of half-year earnings releases and developments in the fixed income space”.

Also, commenting, analysts at InvestData Consulting Limited, said : ” These major breakouts on strong buying sentiments and high volume to continue the markup phase of NGX signal strength, but calls for cautious trading and portfolio realignment ahead of the earnings reporting season, as pullback is underway in form of profit booking in some large cap stocks for the index to gather more strength needed to trade even higher. Note that dividend qualification dates and payments of some companies are close by. The market is witnessing bargain hunting along quarter end window dressing as the first half of 2025 winds down gradually ahead of earnings expectations and Central Bank of Nigeria’s policy meeting in July”.