The NGX recorded a cumulative turnover of N500.76 billion in the week ending July 18. This marks the highest ever turnover recorded on the NGX within a week.
During the four trading days, the market recorded a cumulative trading volume of 17.498 billion shares.
The bulk of the trading activity came from the N323.45 billion First Holdco off-market deal. In that transaction, long-time shareholders Oba Otudeko and Tunde Hassan-Odukale sold off their stake in First Bank. Approximately 65 percent of the trading value that week came from the deal that saw 25 percent of First Holdco exchanged hands on July 16.
The Nigerian Exchange recorded its third-highest trading session of the year on July 18, with a total of 3.3 billion shares traded in deals valued at approximately N62.4 billion.
Following Wednesday’s large off-market transaction involving First Holdco, the market witnessed yet another significant block trade on Friday. The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) offloaded more than 1.14 billion shares of Fidelity Bank in nine negotiated deals.
In a separate development, an unconfirmed off-market transaction involving FCMB also occurred on the same day. Approximately 1.31 billion shares, representing 3.3 percent of the group’s total shareholding, were exchanged, further boosting overall market activity.
A surge in market activity propelled the NGX All-Share Index to climb by over 5,400 points last week, marking a 4.31 percent gain to close at a record high of 131,585.66 points. Financial services stocks dominated trading, accounting for more than 90 percent of total market turnover. However, the top-performing equities were largely from the lower and mid-cap segments. Eunisell led the charge with a 32.6 percent gain, followed by BUA Cement at 31.3 percent, and ABC Plc at 28.4 percent.
Read also: Bullish sentiment pushes NGX market cap beyond N80trn
The impressive rally in BUA Cement was a key driver behind the NGX Industrial Goods Index emerging as the week’s best-performing sector, posting a 19.17 percent gain. Banking stocks also recorded strong gains, rising by 5.36 percent. In contrast, insurance and oil and gas equities ended the week in negative territory, with the NGX Insurance Index and NGX Oil & Gas Index declining by 3.65 percent and 0.76 percent, respectively.
As of 12:00 PM WAT on July 21, mid-day trading data indicates that the Nigerian equities market has extended its bullish momentum into July, with the NGX All-Share Index rising to 131,860.70 points. However, trading activity remains relatively subdued compared to the previous week’s volumes.
