It was another negative outing this week for the local equities market as the All-Share Index declined by 1.40% week on week to 66,382.14 points just as sell-off activities and profit-taking in the some of the blue-chip companies continues.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!In tandem with the ASI, the total market capitalization of listed equities experienced a decline of 1.40% week-on-week, descending to N36.33 trillion as the year-to-date return of the All-Share Index (ASI) eased to 29.52%.
The sectoral performance was in the mix-bargain as the see-saw movement continues across tickers. The Insurance and consumer goods sectors were the best performing indices as they garnered gains by 2.77% and 1.59% week on week.
On the flip side, the Banking (-4.17%), the Industrial goods (-3.04%) and the Oil & Gas sectors (-1.24%) accordingly posted weekly losses as investors dump securities across these indices.
Trading activity throughout the week remained characterized by waning sentiments, as evidenced by the weekly tally of deals which decelerated by 27.67% week-on-week to 27,874 deals. Moreover, the average traded volume witnessed a weekly decrease by 65.76%, settling at 1.34 billion units while the weekly average value declined by 41.03% week on week, and reaching a value of N17.92 billion.
At the close of the week, SUNUASSURE, DAARCOMS and ETERNA were the major toast of investors amid the cherry-picking activities as their share prices advanced by +19%, +19%, and +15% respectively while the laggards for the week were OANDO, TANTALIZER, and CHAMS whose prices nosedived by -19%, -14% and -10% week on week.
In the upcoming week, we anticipate the bearish sentiment to continue as the market seek catalyst and policy pronouncements to trigger the bullish sentiment. However, as we drive into the final quarter for the year and the reporting season draws closer, investors will begin to rebalance their portfolio in their search for alpha in preparation for the quarter-ending reporting season.
Meanwhile, we continue to advise investors on taking positions in stocks with sound fundamentals.
