December 30, 2024/CSL Research
The local equities market closed the holiday-shortened week in positive territory, as the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 99bps week-on-week (w/w) to close at 102,133.30 points. This brought the Year-to-Date (YTD) return of the ASI to 36.59% with gains in two out of the three trading sessions for the week.
Sell pressures in stocks such as OANDO (-3.09% w/w), ETERNA (-3.23% w/w) and NASCON (-4.23% w/w) were unable to outweigh the gains recorded in stocks like PZ (+26.09% w/w), UNIVINSURE (+25.00% w/w), and MRS (+21.00% w/w). Market breadth remained strong at 3.2x, with 64 stocks recording price gains, while 20 stock declined. This was an improvement from the 61 gainers and 26 decliners (2.3x) in the prior week. The performance reflected investor optimism as the year-end approaches, underscoring resilience in key market sectors. UBA emerged as the most traded by volume for the week, while ARADEL retained its position from the previous week as the top traded by value.
Across keys sectors there were notable gains in the Insurance (NGXINS: +13.13% w/w), Consumer Goods (NGXCNSMRGDS: +4.92% (w/w), Banking (NGXBNK: +4.42% w/w), and the Oil & Gas (NGXOILGAS: +0.51% w/w) indices. The Industrial Goods index (NGXINDUSTR: -0.85% w/w) returned as the only laggard.
In corporate developments, Transcorp Plc announced a proposed Mandatory Tender Offer (MTO), signaling strategic moves to consolidate its holdings. Julius Berger also revealed plans to expand regionally by establishing its operation in the Republic of Benin. On another note, Access Holdings Plc made headlines with its Rights Issue allotment announcement, providing updates on its equity expansion efforts.
Trading activities in the new week are expected to reflect continued investor focus on corporate disclosures and expectations around impressive FY 2024 corporate action announcements as most institutional investors and portfolio managers further maximize favourable entry points on most dividend-paying stocks.
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CSL Nigeria Weekly – 30 December 2024.pdf
