Bargain hunting in Okomu Oil Plc and 49 stocks lifted the all-share index (ASI) of the Nigerian Exchange Group Limited, NGX further by 1.21 per cent as Yuletide rally persisted in the capital market on Thursday.
The ASI gained 891.31 points, representing a gain of 1.21 per cent to close at 74,289.02 points. Similarly, the market capitalisation rose by N488 billion to close at N40.652 trillion.
The upward trend was driven by price appreciation in large and medium capitalised stocks amongst which are; Okomu Oil, MTN Nigeria Communication, Transcorp Hotel, Multiverse Mining and Exploration and FBN Holdings.
Afrinvest Limited stated that this bullish rally, which is part of the Santa Claus rally phenomenon, was fueled by robust buying activity in major banking sector stocks as fund managers engaged in window dressing and investors selected fundamentally strong stocks toward the end of the trading year.
The market sentiment, as measured by market breadth was positive, with 50 stocks on the gainers chart relative to 19 losers.
Industrial and Medical Gas Nigeria and Transnational Corporation (Transcorp) emerged as the highest price gainers with 10 per cent each on its share prices to close at N9.35k and N8.47k.
Multiverse Mining & Exploration and OKOMU Oil followed with a price gain of 9.96 per cent each to close1 at N12.70k and N263.90k, while Infinity Trust Mortgage Bank advanced by 9.87 per cent to close at N4.12k.
On the flipside, John Holt led others on the losers’ chart with 10 per cent to close at N2.34k. Ellah Lakes followed with a decline of 9.94 per cent to close at N2.9k, while Tripple Gee & Company shed 9.66 per cent to close at N2.15k.
Regency Alliance Insurance lost 8.11 per cent to close at 34k, while UAC of Nigeria depreciated by 5.96 per cent to close at N15.
The total volume traded increased by 37.19 per cent to 760.93 million units, valued at N 13.026 billion, that exchanged hands in 7,990 deals.
Transactions in the shares of Abbey Mortgage Bank led the activity with 224.085 million shares worth N365.279 million. Access Holdings followed with an account of 65.795 million shares valued at N1.523 billion.
Transcorp traded 65.305 million shares valued at N552.557 million. United Bank for Africa traded 45.979 million shares worth N1.198 billion while Guaranty Trust Holding Company traded 43.593 million shares worth N1.744 billion.
Olusola Akintonde
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