Despite the negative macroeconomics indices amidst coronavirus pandemic and unsteady oil prices, trading activities on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) closed the month of July with marginally increase as investors gain N110 billion representing 0.86 per cent appreciation of the market capitalisation.
In the month of July, the benchmark All Shares Index (ASI) gained 214.57 basis points, closing at 24,693.73 basis points last week Wednesday, as against opening the month with 24,479.16 basis points, representing a 0.88% rise.
The market capitalisation for the month under review added N110 billion, having closed July at N12.88 trillion as against an opening value of N12.77 trillion, representing a 0.86 per cent appreciation in value.
Activities on the local bourse were however tepid, as the volume of stocks traded within the month declined by 12.29 per cent to 4.21 billion shares from 4.8 billion units traded in the previous month, just as market breadth for the month was negative with the decliners outweighing the advancers.
On the sectoral performance chart, the NSE Industrial Goods and Premium indices drove the market the most in the month under review. While the industrial Goods index gained 3.88 per cent, the NSE Premium index followed with 3.79 per cent.
Other sectoral indexes closed lower during the month, led by the NSE Oil/Gas which lost 13.3 per cent, followed by the NSE Consumer Goods that shed 8.88 per cent; the NSE Insurance lost 5.69 per cent; NSE Pension declined by 2.41 per cent, while NSE Banking dipped by 1.19 per cent.
On the performance chart for July, Arbico led the losers’ chart as it lost 26.46 per cent of its share value. Julius Berger stocks also depreciated by 24.4 per cent as a result of its weak performance; just as Learn Africa declined by 21.71 per cent; followed by Unilever Nigeria, having lost 19.93 per cent from its share value; and Seplat, 19.64 per cent on the back of negative and declining earnings performance.
Analysts, however, believed that market outlook for the new month remained mixed as more quarterly and full-year earnings are expected. But with the mixed sentiment and momentum, the market is expected to extend it volatility, even as economic recovery may strengthen market fundamentals if the 2020 capital budget is implemented judiciously, Ambrose Omordion, Chief Research Officer at Investdata Consulting Ltd said.
