Industrial Goods Sector Leads NGX Rally with 9.67% Gain
In a significant market development, the industrial goods sector on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) emerged as the top performer, recording a robust gain of 9.67% over the past week. This surge, the highest in several months, was primarily driven by substantial price appreciations in key stocks such as BUACement, John Holt, Premier Paints, Berger Paints, and Lafarge Africa.
Banking Index Follows with Strong Performance
The banking index also posted impressive gains, advancing by 4.31% due to sustained buying interest in major financial institutions. Stocks like Zenith Bank, United Bank for Africa, FirstHoldCo, Wema Bank, and AccessCorp attracted significant investor attention, reflecting a continued appetite for fundamentally strong and liquid counters in the sector.
Commodity and Oil Sectors Face Declines
Conversely, the commodity index led the losers' chart with a decline of 4.91%, largely attributed to losses in Presco and Aradel Holdings. The oil and gas sector also experienced a downturn, dropping by 4.78% amid weaknesses observed in Oando and Eterna. Additionally, the insurance and consumer goods indices recorded marginal declines of 0.42% and 0.1%, respectively, weighed down by sell-offs in stocks such as International Energy Insurance, International Breweries, Regal Insurance, Nigerian Breweries, Tantalizers, and NASCON Allied Industries.
All-Share Index Crosses Key Psychological Threshold
The overall market sentiment remained positive as the all-share index crossed the 200,000 psychological threshold, rising by 1.39% week-on-week to close at 201,156.85 points. This rally was largely supported by sustained demand for banking and industrial stocks, underscoring investor preference for fundamentally sound equities. Market capitalization mirrored this optimism, climbing to N129.13 trillion, representing a weekly gain of N1.77 trillion. Year-to-date returns stood at 29.27% for the index and 29.94% for market capitalization.
Trading Activity Shows Significant Strengthening
Trading activity on the NGX strengthened notably, with total volume traded jumping by 173.6% week-on-week to 9.05 billion units. Transaction value also rose by 62.39% to N267.33 billion, indicating increased investor positioning driven by sector rotation. However, overall market breadth remained weak, with four of the six tracked sectors closing in negative territory, highlighting a divergence between strong-performing stocks and underperformers.
Top Gainers and Losers Highlight Market Dynamics
John Holt led the gainers' chart with a 25.4% increase, followed by BUACement at 21%, Premier Paints at 20.6%, Zenith Bank at 14.6%, and Learn Africa at 13.3%, all buoyed by sustained buying momentum. On the losers' side, Presco recorded the steepest decline of 18.4%, alongside DAAR Communications, which fell by 13.6%, Eterna by 12.8%, Red Star Express by 10%, and Omatek by 9.2%, reflecting profit-taking and weak investor sentiment in those stocks.
Technical Outlook Remains Bullish
Looking ahead, Ambrose Omordion, Chief Research Officer of Investdata Consulting Limited, provided insights into the market's technical outlook. He stated that the market remains strongly bullish, supported by robust price action, expanding trading volumes, and sustained institutional participation. Omordion noted that the All-Share Index has broken key resistance levels and is holding above the 200,000 mark, which now serves as a critical support level.
He added that while intermittent pullbacks or sideways movements may occur in the near term due to overbought conditions, such corrections are expected to be mild and could present attractive entry opportunities for investors targeting fundamentally strong stocks. According to him, key support levels are positioned around 200,000 and 198,500 points, while immediate resistance is seen within the 205,000 to 207,000 range, with a breakout above this band likely to trigger another rally phase.
