Transnational Corporation Plc (Transcorp), Nigeria’s largest listed conglomerate, gained N34.70 or 313.03% a share last week to close at N45.75 a unit after the company’s unaudited financial statement for the third quarter showed 352% year-on-year growth in profit before tax to N34.566 billion.

During the week, investors on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) transacted 2.717 billion shares worth N54.632 billion in 46,848 deals, against a total of 2.142 billion shares valued at N85.946 billion that exchanged hands in 41,217 deals in the previous week.

The Financial Services Industry led the activity chart with a combined 1.821 billion shares valued at N28.958 billion traded in 20,173 deals, therefore, contributing 67.01% and 53.01% to the total equity turnover volume and value, respectively.

The ICT Industry followed with 389.848 million shares worth N6.560 billion in 2,515 deals. In third place was the Conglomerates Industry with a turnover of 160.993 million shares worth N4.746 billion in 3,623 deals.

Fidelity Bank Plc, Chams Holding Company Plc and United Bank for Africa Plc accounted for 1.225 billion shares worth N17.721 billion in 4,912 deals and contributed 45.10% and 32.44% to the total equity turnover volume and value, respectively.

The NGX All-Share index closed the week in the red at 97,432.02 index points, a 2.03% decline from 99,448.91 index points recorded in the previous week. The Exchange year-to-date return moderated to 30.30%.

Also, the market capitalization of listed equities dipped by the same 2.03% from N60.261 trillion to N59.039 trillion.

Similarly, all other indices finished lower with the exception of NGX Banking, NGX AFR Bank Value, NGX AFR Div Yield, NGX MERI Growth, NGX MERI Value, NGX Oil & Gas and NGX Growth which appreciated by 0.19%, 1.76%, 1.52%, 0.16%, 0.48%, 1.15%, and 0.07% respectively while the NGX ASeM index closed flat.

Thirty-nine equities appreciated in price during the week lower than fifty-eight equities in the previous week. Forty-five equities depreciated in price higher than eighteen in the previous week, while sixty-eight equities remained unchanged, lower than seventy-six recorded in the previous week.

Stockbrokers and investors have abandoned the equity market due to the Naira volatility, lack of market drive towards the end of the year,  and the high interest rate in Nigeria.

A long-time investor, David Adonri explained that the volume of trade usually drops towards the end of the year but the market normalises in January.

With the persistent drop in the value of the Nigerian Naira against foreign currencies, investors are wary of unfavourable currency conversion.

“The equity market reacts to so many things. The depreciation of the naira, which is around N1,700, of course, would impact the market. The foreign exchange position can make people exit the market and convert to hard currency, which is stronger, possibly to come back to the market when they see an improved currency level. That is what we call carry-over trade,” Adonri said.

“We also have the hike in the interest rate, which also causes financial assets to migrate away from the capital market,” Adonri added.

“Third, we are in the period of the year, where seasonally, the market is a little bit down because there is nothing specific to drive the market like full-year results or half-year dividends and so on. So we slide to a low tempo from September up to November until after Christmas the market starts trending up again,” he further stated.

According to a report by the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX), equity investment transactions dropped in Q3, 2024 compared to the previous quarter of the year.

In the same vein, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported that capital importation showed that investors shifted from equity investment to portfolio investment.

The portfolio investment includes equity, bonds, and money market instruments.

With the recent shift, the portfolio investment made a 10.37 percent increase amounting to a $106.85 million gain from the N1.03 billion total capital inflow.

The Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) lost 0.25 percent on Wednesday following three consecutive days of gains that saw NGX market capitalization approach N60 trillion.

Activity on the Exchange declined as investors exchanged 257.552 million shares worth N8.993 billion in 7,776 transactions, compared to 286.1 million shares worth N26.8 billion traded in 9,650 deals on Tuesday.

The market capitalization of listed equities decreased by N148 billion from N59.707 trillion in the previous session to N59.559 trillion on Wednesday.

The NGX All-Share Index dropped 0.25 percent, or 249.4 points to close at 98,291.53 index points from 98,540.93 index points on Tuesday.

Deap Capital Management led the gainers with a 10 percent increase while UACN and Dangote Sugar followed with 9.90 percent and 9.69 percent gains, respectively.

On the flip side, Custodian led the losers with an 8.98 percent decline to close at N11.65 per share. Okomu Oil lost N24.90, or 6.86 percent to settle at N338.10 per unit and Consolidated Hallmark Holdings fell 6.62 percent, or 10 kobo to N1.41 per share.

Fidelity Bank was the most traded stock with 38.209 million shares worth N559.084 million exchanged. See other details below.

Top Five Gainers

Top Five Losers 

Top Five Trades