Key Stock Performances:
- Fidelity Bank Plc: Its share price surged by 10%, rising from N13 to N14.30. The bank had recently announced a proposed interim dividend of 85 kobo per share for shareholders whose names will appear in the register on October 17, spurring investor enthusiasm.
- Livestock Feeds: The stock advanced by 9.76%, increasing from N3.28 to N3.60.
- Ellah Lakes: The stock gained 8.44%, moving from N4.50 to N4.88.
Despite analysts predicting muted activity due to an upcoming Treasury Bills auction, the market managed to perform well. The NGX benchmark All-Share Index (ASI) rose from 97,520.54 points to 97,706.7 points, while market capitalization increased from N56.038 trillion to N56.145 trillion.
Analyst Views:
- Meristem Research anticipated a negative week, noting a lack of market catalysts to trigger strong investor activity. They foresaw cautious investor behavior as attention shifted to the fixed-income market.
- United Capital shared a more balanced view, expecting mixed sentiments in the market due to persistent inflation and the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC)’s 50 basis points interest rate hike. They predicted that investors and fund managers would adopt a cautious approach, focusing on equities with strong fundamentals and profitability in 2024 financials. Additionally, corporates with upcoming actions were expected to outperform, presenting trading opportunities.
Market Activity:
Stocks like Tantalizer, UBA, Access Holdings, Caverton, and GTCO were among the most traded on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX). In total, 1,308,714,515 shares were exchanged in 10,424 deals, amounting to N5.961 billion in value.
Looking ahead, analysts expect cautious but opportunistic trading as investors prepare for the 9M 2024 earnings season, while also anticipating cyclical portfolio rebalancing towards the year’s end.
