The Nigerian equities market ended last week on a positive note with a gain of N614 billion, buoyed by renewed investors’ confidence spurred by the ongoing dividend season and a softer inflation print.
April 2025 inflation eased to 23.71 per cent, reinforcing expectations of a more accommodative monetary policy stance ahead of the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN)’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting scheduled for May 19 and May 20, 2025.
Investor optimism was further supported by anticipation surrounding the release of Nigeria’s first-quarter 2025 GDP figures, which will reflect the newly rebased economic methodology.
The benchmark NGX All-Share Index appreciated by 0.90 per cent week-on-week to close at 109,710.37 points. In tandem, the market capitalization rose by N614 billion to close the week at N68.953 trillion.
This performance was underpinned by strong investor interest across sectors and the continued undervaluation of several equities, resulting in multiple stocks reaching new 52-week highs.
The market breadth for the week was positive as 61 equities appreciated in price, 31 equities depreciated in price, while 56 equities remained unchanged. Beta Glass led the gainers table by 46.31 per cent to close at N235.05, per share. Champion Breweries followed with a gain of 42.08 per cent to close at N6.82, while Caverton Offshore Support Group went up by 37.70 per cent to close to N4.20, per share.
On the other side, Multiverse Mining and Exploration led the decliners table by 19.50 per cent to close at N8.05, per share. Union Dicon Salt followed with a loss of 11.83 per cent to close at N7.45, while Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO) declined by 9.64 per cent to close at N75.00, per share.
Overall, a total turnover of 2.606 billion shares worth N63.785 billion in 77,593 deals was traded last week by investors on the floor of the Exchange, in contrast to a total of 2.645 billion shares valued at N77.005 billion that exchanged hands previous week in 86,110 deals.
Looking ahead, Cowry Asset Management Limited said, “we expect bullish00 momentum to persist into the coming week as investors continue to digest the implications of the inflation cool down and position ahead of a possible interest rate cut by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
“With expectations of further policy support and improving macroeconomic indicators, sentiment is likely to remain upbeat. We continue to recommend that investors focus on equities with solid fundamentals, resilient earnings potential, and attractive valuations.”
This week, Imperial Asset Managers stated that, ‘we foresee continuation of a mixed market highly dictated by growing investors’ sentiment on FMCGs and other real sector listed stocks.’
The Research Firm noted that, the positive macroeconomic data released within the period under review is expected to provide additional fillip to the market.
