Stock market gained N448bn in November

The Nigerian stock market (equities category) appreciated by N448bn in November this year.
The Nigerian Stock Exchange market capitalisation stood at N12.766tn as of November 1, 2017 but closed at N13.214tn on the last day of trading in November (November 30).
The All-Share Index of the NSE also recorded a significant advancement as it closed at 37,944.60 basis points on November 30 from 36,887.20 basis points recorded on November 1, 2017.
Corroborating this positive trend, the Nigerian equities market had maintained a significant bullish trend last week as the All-Share Index appreciated by 1.5 per cent week-to-date to close at a three-month high of 37,944.60 basis points.
On Thursday alone, the market gained N82bn as 11.77 billion shares valued at N21.384bn exchanged hands in 5,152 deals.
The year-to-date and month-to-date returns advanced to 41.2 per cent and 3.4 per cent, respectively on the last day of trading in November this year.
The NSE market capitalisation increased by N205.5bn to N13.2tn, exceeding the N13tn mark for the second time this year. Similarly, activity level improved as average volume and value traded increased 70.8 per cent and 14.3 per cent week-on-week to 745.5 million units and N5.2bn, respectively.
Last week’s top traded stocks by volume were Wapic Insurance Plc (with 1.4 billion), Fidelity Bank Plc (224.3 million) and FBN Holdings Plc (164.6 million) while Zenith Bank Plc (N3.9bn), Nigerian Breweries Plc (N3.4bn), and Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (N1.5bn) led the value chart.
The top performing stocks last week were Fidelity Bank Plc, Forte Oil Plc and Law Union and Rock Insurance Plc, which respectively appreciated by 21.2 per cent, 15 per cent and 14.8 per cent.
The worst-performing stocks were given as Mobil Oil Plc, Universal Press Plc and Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals Plc, which declined by 6.1 per cent, 5.5 per cent and 4.9 per cent, accordingly.
The impressive performance of the equities market in November ending coincided with index rebalancing date for the Morgan Stanley Capital International Frontier Market indices, which perhaps indicates that Nigeria has a net inflow of funds.
Commenting on the market performance at the month end, analysts at Meristem Securities said, “We attribute the positive close to the bullish sentiments observed on counters in the consumer goods and banking space. We expect the current trend to be maintained in the coming week, following increased investors’ confidence towards the Nigerian bourse.”