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.
According to The Punch. 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 crossed 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% to settle at N39.563tn at the end of trading on Wednesday; this means that N215bn was added to the investors’ wealth.
As the year draws to a close, analysts have been predicting a Santa-Claus rally and an investor reallocation to solid stocks in advance of the upcoming earnings season.
There were 16 losers and 34 winners in the market breadth, a good indicator of investor mood.
From 319.56 million trades valued at N8.08 billion from 6,650 completed deals, the volume of transactions grew to 433.180 million. At the close of Wednesday’s trading session, there were 119 stocks traded.
Sector performance was uneven, with two of the five tracked indices finishing higher, two staying largely unchanged, and one experiencing a decline. With gains of 0.94 percent and 0.07 percent, respectively, the Banking and Consumer Goods indexes 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.
The stocks of SCOA, Infinity Trust Mortgage Bank, AccessCorp, Cornerstone Insurance, and Transcorp Hotel closed at N1.78, N2.34, N22.05, N1.45, and 46.90 per unit, respectively, after gaining 9.88, 9.86, 8.09, 7.41, and 6.83 per cent. These stocks were at the top of the gainers chart.
University Press Plc, Sunu Assurance, Regency Alliance Insurance, Eterna, and Flour Mills were the biggest losers, with respective losses of -9.82 percent, -9.38 percent, -8.11 percent, -8.03 percent, and 4.57%.
The banking stocks, AccessCorp, GTCO, Zenith Bank, United Bank for Africa, and Sterling Financial Holdings were the top volume and value drivers of the day’s market trend. Additionally, NAHCO shares appeared on the top turnover table.
