THE panic sale of shares which had permeated transaction on the Nigerian Stock Market in two consecutive weeks still persisted last week in terms of value traded,  total volume of transaction and as well as number of deals at which trading was carried out in the week.

However, offloading of shares by both local and foreign investors could not dictate the direction of the twin market performance indicators in the securities market as value of shares went up marginally for four trading days in the week.

The stock market soft-landing in the trading days of the week was applauded by investors who said that most stocks have reached their resistance value level.

The direction of trading activities, coupled with attendant losses at the equities market in previous weeks had sent jitters down the spine of investors who are yet to fully recover from the near crisis period in the stock market in which  about N9 trillion was eroded from their investment value.

The institutional investors continued to sell their holdings in most of the blue-chip stocks to average their losses in other market while dealing members who felt that the coming on board of the Asset Management Company (AMC) will affect their investment, also engaged in panic sales.

Notwithstanding, the direction of the market in terms of sales of equities, the market rose in value terms in the week by a total of 1.72 per cent or N107 billion.

An x-ray of transaction last week showed that Nestle Nigeria Plc, MRS Oil Nig, Guinness Nigeria, Benue Cement Company and 7-UP Plc led the pack of  stocks which appreciated.

They rose by 5.0, 7.72, 2.97, 3.20 and 4.44 per cent while Nigeria Bottling Company led the losers’ chart with 9.76 per cent. Flourmill Nigeria Plc, May & Baker Plc, Oando Plc and Presco Plc, followed closely with 9.76, 2.79, 21.54 and 9.63 per cent. The rallying in the value of stocks, according to investors may have started to savour the benefit of the international investors’ conference organised by Zenith Bank Plc, one of the quoted companies in the banking sub-sector on the Exchange last Monday. The conference, it will be recalled, was aimed at showing that following losses by business owners in the country after the global economic recession, investment in equities still hold a lot of opportunities for both local and foreign investors

The conference brought together experts from all fields of endeavour and they resolved that except the Federal Government, as a matter of urgency, tackles the poor power supply, both the economy and the entire political landscape will continue to experience instability in their growth.

The Group Managing Director of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) Professor Ndi Okereke-Onyiuke, said the lopsidedness in the economy in terms of growth and development could readily be traced to the decay in power generation which had almost crippled the manufacturing industries.

Okereke Onyiuke, who said the NSE spends an average of N25 million a month to buy diesel, noted that every hand must be on deck to help move the economy forward as there is positive sign of the stock market bouncing back based on the strong fundamental being posted by companies in the country.

She said the best time to buy stocks is now when the prices are at the rock bottom, stressing that by next year, anybody wishing to play the market will be doing so at high cost.

As a way of boosting investors’ confidence in the market, she explained that the dip in the market was due to investors who were not well informed about operations in the market but only wanted to cash in on the boom in the market following the excess fund in circulation post consolidation in the banking industry.

She said that with the coming on stream of  AMC  next month, this will help absorb the pain caused by toxic waste in the equities market, even as she explained that though this will take only 40 per cent of the problems added, it will go a long way in helping to return the market to more profitability.

The market opened on Monday on a good note led by marginal advances by banks and other mid-cap securities. Zenith, Guaranty Trust Bank and FirstBank Plc led the top stocks of the day, while two insurance services giants, Custodian Insurance and International Energy Insurance added about 15 million shares to the headline turnover. The broad index finished better at 25,444.96 on advances led by petroleum marketing giant MRS Oil Plc 2.20 kobo. The stocks of Julius Berger increased  by 1.24 kobo, Nigerian Breweries Plc -101 kobo  and  Dangote Flourmill-100 kobo.  Meanwhile,  the shares of  NBC Plc lost 169 kobo, Cadbury-137 kobo, PZ Cusson-100 kobo and Oando-69 kobo. Total market turnover stood at 206 million shares, slightly below Friday's figure for a net value of N1.86 billion.

A total of 280,000,000 shares were added to the shares outstanding in the name of May & Baker Nigeria Plc during  the day’s transaction following the bonus of 2 for 5
Investors on Tuesday swapped 236.1 million ordinary shares worth N1.86 billion in 6,536 deals. At the close of transaction, the value of listed equities, represented by market capitalisation, climbed by 0.03 per cent or N20 billion, from N6.189 trillion posted on Monday to N6.209 trillion. The All-share index, which opened at 25,444.96 points, rose by 81.53 basis points or 0.03 per cent to close at 25,526.49 points.

Transactions on Tuesday saw Zenith Bank recording the highest in volume terms again with 29.7 million units of shares valued at N391.7 million, Custodian and Allied Insurance with 18.9 million unit shares worth N75.8 million and Ecobank TransNational Incorporated with 12.5 million valued at N204.3 billion.

Transaction in equities on Wednesday saw gainers outweighing gainers. This follows major gains by most blue chip companies, which resulted in the market capitalisation rising by N46billion. Specifically, at the close of transactions in the day, the few price gains recorded by some highly capitalised companies pushed market indices higher in the day.

Precisely, 39 stocks witnessed price appreciation as against 34 which depreciated in the day. Corporate performance indices or the All-share index of the Exchange rose by 192.74 points or 0.75 per cent from 25,526.49 recorded on Tuesday to 25,719.23, while market capitalisation appreciated by from N6, 209 trillion to N6, 255 trillion.

With transactions exchanged in 3,652 deals, the banking sub-sector was the most active in volume terms with 162.6 million shares worth N1.5 billion, followed by other financial institutions sub-sector with 46.5 million units worth N43.3 million in43deals while the insurance sub-sector with36.2 million units valued at N47.6 million in 510 deals.

In all, 369 million shares worth N4.3billion were exchanged in 13,197 by investors.

Thursday saw transaction continuing on the bullish trend with which the market opened on Monday, as investors’ wealth again climbed by N48 billion or 0.76 per cent while the index also rose by 0.74 per cent or 194.12 points. Fifty-eighty stocks depreciated compared to 22 stocks that appreciated. The market closed the week on Friday on a depressed note as the market capitalisation dipped by N13 billion while the index fell 515.1 points to close the week at low of N6.290 trillion and 25,861.93 points respectively.

The total rise in the market in the week stood at N107 billion or 1.70 per cent.

The All-share index, another index for measuring performance of listed equities, appreciated 1.69 per cent to close the week at 25,861.93 points from 25,422.79 points.

Meanwhile, a turnover of 257.51 million units worth N280.9 million in 2,452 deals was recorded last week, in contrast to a total of 231.73 million units valued at N261.254.7 million exchanged in 231.73 deals during the week ended Thursday, June 10, 2010. The most active bond (measured by turnover volume) was the 7th FGN Bond 2013 Series 1 with a traded volume of 57.7 million units valued at N56,466.13 million in 534 deals.

This was followed by the 6th FGN Bond 2029 Series 5 with a traded volume of 31.9 million units valued at N31,741 million in 250 deals. Twenty-seven of the available thirty-seven FGN Bonds were traded during the week, compared with twenty-four in the preceding week.