NGX index sustains rally, crosses 50,000 points
Nestlé-Haus Frankfurt am Main – Campus
The Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) sustained its Santa Claus rally yesterday, as the all-share index (ASI) crossed the 50,000 mark.
At the close of transactions, the ASI rose by 365.4 absolute points, representing a gain of 0.7 per cent to close at 50,300 points.
Accordingly, investors’ wealth appreciated by N199 billion in value as market capitalisation went up to N27.397 trillion.
The upturn was impacted by gains recorded in medium and large capitalised stocks, among which are; Nestle Nigeria, Seplat Energy, Geregu Power, Nigerian Breweries and Julius Berger.
Analysts at Vetiva Dealings and Brokerage said: “We anticipate an impressive finish to the week and year in tomorrow’s session, with positive closes across the sectoral indices amid pockets of profit-taking activity.”
As measured by market breadth, market sentiment was positive, as 37 stocks gained relative to nine losers. Nestle Nigeria and Geregu Power recorded the highest price gain of 10 per cent each to close at N1, 100 and N139.7 respectively, while McNichols followed with a gain of 9.62 per cent to close at 57 kobo.
Computer Warehouse Group went up by 9.52 per cent to close at 92 kobo, while Royal Exchange also appreciated by 9.35 per cent to close at N1.17 kobo.
On the other hand, Livestock Feeds led the losers’ chart by 8.4 per cent to close at N1.09, per share. FBN Holdings (FBNH) followed with a decline of 6.36 per cent to close at N11.05 kobo while Vitafoam Nigeria went down by 5.92 to close at N20.65.
Unilever Nigeria lost 2.54 per cent to close at N11.5 while Fidelity Bank shed 1.94 per cent to close at N4.56 kobo
The total volume traded declined by 40.3 per cent to 490.484 million units, valued at N7.748 billion, and exchanged in 4,480 deals.
Transactions in the shares of FBNH topped the activity chart with 271.364 million shares valued at N3.202 billion. Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) followed with 38.53 million shares worth N922.553 million, while Zenith Bank traded 19.642 million shares valued at N486.572 million.
AIICO Insurance traded 17.472 million shares valued at N9.97 million, while Consolidated Hallmark Insurance transacted 13.924 million shares worth N9.093 million.
