The Nigerian Exchange Limited’s main index, the All-Share Index, crossed the 72,000 basis point threshold for the first time in history on Wednesday, rising by 0.55 percent to 72,299.79 points.
This occurred as trading activity on the NGX moved into its fourth day of positive trade, netting investors in the equities market a gain of N415 billion.
The ASI closed at 70,581.76, having broken the 70,000 level on November 1. This came after several days of consistently positive trading. As of now, the ASI’s year-to-date increase has surpassed 40%. The market capitalization increased by 0.55 percent to end at N39.563 trillion on Wednesday at the close of trade, adding N215 billion to the fortune of investors.
As the year draws to a close, analysts have been predicting a Santa-Claus rally and an investor reallocation to solid equities in advance of the upcoming earnings season. The market breadth, a gauge of investor mood, was favorable, with 16 losses and 34 winners.
From 319.56 million trades worth N8.08 billion from 6,650 completed deals, the volume of transactions grew to 433.180 million. At the closing of Wednesday’s trading session, there were 119 stocks traded.
Sector performance was uneven, with two of the five monitored indices finishing higher, two staying largely unchanged, and one seeing a decline. With gains of 0.94 percent and 0.07 percent, respectively, the Banking and Consumer Goods indices topped the gainers. Conversely, the Insurance sector faced a decline, plummeting by 1.80 per cent, while the Oil & Gas and Industrial Goods indexes held steady compared to the previous session.
Atop the gainers chart were the stocks of SCOA, Infinity Trust Mortgage Bank, AccessCorp, Cornerstone Insurance and Transcorp Hotel which gained 9.88 per cent, 9.86 per cent, 8.09 per cent, 7.41 per cent and 6.83 per cent to close at N1.78, N2.34, N22.05, N1.45 and 46.90 per unit respectively.
The losers were led by University Press Plc, Sunu Assurance, Regency Alliance Insurance, Eterna and Flour Mills with -9.82 per cent, -9.38 per cent, -8.11 per cent, -8.03per cent, and 4.57 per cent loss each.
The volume and value drivers of the day’s market trend were led by banking stocks, AccessCorp, GTCO, Zenith Bank, United Bank for Africa, and Sterling Financial Holdings. NAHCO shares also made it to the top turnover table.
