Equities market defies inflation figure to close week in green

…up by 0.50% in week ended November 15

Nigeria’s equities market defied inflation report and rose by 0.50 percent in the trading week ended Friday November 15.

The mixed trading week which recorded three sessions of positive closes as against two days of negatives ushered in report on Nigeria’s inflation rate for October.

Nigeria’s inflation rate rose for the second straight month in October, advancing to 33.88 percent in annual terms as against 32.70 percent in September mainly due to higher food prices, National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data showed on Friday.

At the close of the review week’s trading on Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), its All-Share Index (ASI) and equities market capitalisation appreciated to close at 97,722.28 points and N59.215 trillion respectively.

The market’s year-to-date (YtD) return printed higher at +30.69 percent on Friday November 15.

While some investors hunted for attractive banking, consumer goods and insurance stocks, others saw opportunity for profit taking in oil & gas and industrial stocks that had rallied in previous trading sessions.

Some market analysts had in the review week expected a mixed performance, driven by selective positioning in fundamentally strong stocks with recent price pullbacks, while ongoing bank rights issues serve as a positive catalyst.

While they didn’t rule out the possibility of profit-taking actions in the week under review, Lagos-based Meristem research analysts had anticipated the market to close on a positive note “driven by increased bargain hunting activity, with a reduced sell bias as investors reposition on sound tickers now trading at attractive levels”.

Thirty-nine equities appreciated in price during the week in review, higher than 31 equities in the preceding trading week.

Forty-six equities depreciated in price, higher than 42 in the preceding week, while 67 equities remained unchanged, lower than 79 recorded in the preceding week.

All other sectoral indices finished higher with the exception of NGX Oil and Gas and NGX Industrial Goods which depreciated by 0.29 percent and 0.20 percent respectively while the NGX ASeM and NGX Sovereign Bond indices closed flat.