The Nigerian Exchange Limited’s market capitalization increased by 1.63 percent on Tuesday, the first day of trading in the New Year, adding nearly N666 billion to investors’ wealth even as the market reached new highs.
The PUNCH reported that the market capitalization reached a new high of N41.583tn at the close of trade, while the All-Share Index surpassed the 75,000 mark. During trading, the ASI gained 1,217.11 points to settle at 75,990.88 points.
Mutual Benefits Assurance Plc, Transcorp Plc (+9.93%), Unity Bank (+9.88%), United Bank for Africa (+1.36%), Access Holdings (+1.73%), Zenith Bank (+0.91%), and Airtel Africa (+5.99%) were market leaders.
Market Breadth, a measure of investor sentiment, was favourable, with 50 gainers and 18 losers.
AIICO, DaarCom, Sunu Assurance, Ikeja Hotel Plc, Linkage Assurance, and Infinity Trust Mortgage Bank Plc lead the gainers with 10% gains to close at N0.88, N0.99, N1.21, N6.60, N0.88 and N6.60, respectively.
Other gainers were Multiverse, which gained 9.96% to end at N20.42, Transcorp Plc, which gained 9.93% to conclude at N9.52, Eterna Oil, which gained 9.75% to close at N14.10, and PZ Cussons, which gained 8.61% to close at N29 a share.
Cadbury Plc, Thomas Wyatt, and Mecure Industries lead the losers’ chart with 10% drops to settle at N17.10, N2.43, and N10.80 per unit, respectively. Other equities that lost value include Prestige, which fell 9.80% to settle at N0.46, and Consolidated Hallmark Holdings Plc, which fell 9.52% to close at N1.33 per unit.
The volume and value drivers of the day’s market trend were Mutual Benefits, Transcorp, Airtel Africa, and GTCO. The volume of shares traded climbed to 515.81 million from 368.63 million units valued at N5.57 billion from 9,370 transactions.
According to some observers, the market’s bullish feeling will be maintained this week as investors prepare for the new year through sectoral portfolio rebalancing.
Given that the reporting and earnings season is just around the corner, it is expected that market participants would participate in profit-taking and bargain-hunting for dividend-paying equities.
