The Nigerian equity market has started the year 2022 strong. The All-Share Index (ASI) in the month of January has gained 9.15%% for the month starting at 42,716.44 basis points to ending at 46,624.67 basis points. The market capitalization also grew in similar fashion from N22.3 trillion at the beginning of the month only to end the month trading N25.1 trillion, representing a 12.68% gain.
It is also earnings season in the market and we have seen recording breaking performances by companies. MTN for example, was able to generate a total of 1.65 trillion in revenue, attributable to a major increase in its data revenue which grew by 55% in 2021. Asides from MTN, we saw the listing of BUA Foods on the exchange and its share price rallied by 33.06% in January to become a new member of the SWOOTs (Stocks Worth Over One Trillion).
Speaking on the SWOOTs, collectively they were able to grow their market capitalization by 1.57 trillion, representing a 9.64% increase from 16.4 trillion at the beginning of the month to N17.9 trillion on the last day of January 2022. The SWOOTs now account for 71.36% of the total market capitalization of the stock exchange. Notably, in the month of January, Airtel Africa overtook Dangote Cement to be the most capitalized stock on the NGX. Airtel also became the first company listed on the NGX to break through the $5 trillion mark in terms of market capitalization in the same period.
Also, during the month, the market witnessed a flipping between banking giants Zenith Bank and Guaranty Trust Holdings. For the first time since September 22nd, 2011, Zenith Bank share price traded higher than that of Guaranty Trust.
The gains seen on the NGX comes as Wall Street experienced a sell-off on its major indexes due to inflationary pressure and hawkish stance by the United States’ Federal Reserve. Asides from Wall Street, the FTSE 100 and the NIKKEI 225 also saw a sell off as supply chain crisis coupled with inflationary pressures also affected the respective indexes. What the experts are saying about stocks
Speaking to the CEO of Qualinvest Capital, Adebayo Teriba , he explained that some stocks have already begun their bullish raise due to investors anticipating strong dividend payments. He stated, “Fidelity bank, Flour mills and United capital have all been bullish throughout the month of January due to investors anticipating that these companies […]