Nigerian Exchange ,NGX, expanded as equities investors gained about N966 billion amidst first quarter of 2025 earnings season. The equities market maintained its upward trajectory, buoyed by renewed investor confidence, robust earnings releases for Q1 2025, and continued dividend declarations.
Strong appetite for financial and consumer goods stocks drove key performance indicators upward in the holiday shortened week.
The All-Share Index ,ASI, appreciated by 1.46% on a week-on-week basis, closing the week at 105,752.61 points.
Stockbrokers said this positive performance was underpinned by solid market internals, marked by a significant uptick in buy-side activity, especially in bellwether stocks.
As of Friday’s close, total market capitalisation of listed equities expanded by 1.47% to N66.47 trillion, reflecting a net market gain of N965.69 billion.
The bullish sentiment was further bolstered by the listing by introduction of Legend Internet Plc, which added 2 billion ordinary shares of 50 kobo each to the bourse.
This new listing added approximately N11.28 billion to the overall market capitalisation at the time of listing, providing an additional source of optimism for market participants.
Consequently, the market’s year-to-date return rose to 2.75%, highlighting a steady recovery from earlier downturns.
Market breadth was distinctly positive, with 63 equities posting gains compared to 27 decliners, resulting in a healthy breadth ratio of 2.33x, a signal of broad-based investor optimism.
Trading activity was also notably upbeat despite the shortened week. The total number of trades executed on the exchange rose marginally by 0.45% to 51,386 deals.
Also, total volume traded climbed by 21.61% to 1.85 billion units, while total market turnover surged by 30.27% to reach N56.03 billion over renewed investors bargain hunting.
From a sectoral perspective, the performance was largely bullish across the board, save for isolated pockets of weakness. The Consumer Goods Index led the charge, advanced impressively by 8.57% week on week.
This was largely driven by strong price appreciation in stocks such as International Breweries, NASCON, Ikeja Hotel, and Cadbury Nigeria. Following closely, the Insurance Index climbed by 7.30%, propelled by gains in names like NEM Insurance, Cornerstone Insurance, and Lasaco Assurance.
The Banking Index was not left out, posting a 5.06% gain on the back of investor interest in the likes of JAIZ Bank, Ecobank Transnational Inc. ETI, and Access Corporation.
Meanwhile, the Commodity Index registered a marginal uptick of 0.04%, reflecting mild investor activity in that segment. However, the NGX Oil & Gas and NGX Industrial Goods indices both ended the week in negative territory, dipping by 0.07% and 3.43% respectively.
These losses were mainly driven by profit-taking and lacklustre sentiment in stocks such as John Holt, Dangote Cement, MRS Oil, Total Nigeria, Berger Paints, and Chemical and Allied Products ,CAP, Plc.
In terms of individual stock performance, INTERBREW emerged as the week’s top gainer with a remarkable 40% rally. It was followed by NASCON (+26.2%), AFRIPRUD (+25.6%), VITAFOAM (+21.2%), and IKEJAHOTEL (+21.0%).
On the flip side, VFDGROUP was the week’s worst performer, shedding a staggering 82.2%. Other notable laggards included JOHNHOLT (-18.6%), TRIPPLE GEE (-10%), DANGOTE CEMENT (-10%), and HALDANE MCCALL (-10%).
Stock analysts at Cowry Asset Management Limited expect the bullish sentiment to persist into the coming week as investors continue to react positively to ongoing corporate earnings releases.
“The market is likely to remain dominated by fundamentals, with particular attention paid to dividend-paying stocks and companies with strong Q1 outlooks”, Cowry Asset Limited said in a report.
However, investors are advised to remain discerning and prioritise fundamentally sound equities, as macroeconomic headwinds and profit-taking tendencies may temper gains in select segments.
