NGX Investors Rejoice as Stock Rally Continues With a N666 Billion Gain at First Trading Session of the Year

Traders at the Nigerian Exchange jubilate as the stock rally continues in 2024. The first day of equities trading in the year at the Nigerian Exchange Limited was a massive success as investors gained N666bn. On the other hand, market capitalization rose by 1.63% on Tuesday.

At the close of the trading session on Tuesday, the market capitalization at the NGX stood at a record high of N41.583 trillion, while the All-Share Index crossed the 75,000 threshold. Also, ASI gained 1,217.11 points during trading to close at 75,990.88 points. 

Major drivers at the NGX trading session on Tuesday were the stocks of 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%).

Market breadth, measured by investors' sentiment, was positive, resulting in 50 gainers and 18 losers.

Top Gainers: The top gainer's chart was led by stocks of AIICO, DaarCom, Sunu Assurance, Ikeja Hotel Plc, Linkage Assurance, and Infinity Trust Mortgage Bank Plc, which gained 10%, respectively, to close at N0.88, N0.99, N1.21, N6.60, N0.88 and N6.60 each. Other gainers include Multiverse, which gained 9.96% to close at N20.42; Transcorp Plc, which went up by 9.93% to close at N9.52; Eterna Oil, which gained 9.75% to close at N14.10; and PZ Cussons gained 8.6% to close at N29 per share.

Top Losers: Cadbury Plc, Thomas Wyatt, and Mecure Industries led the top losers to chart with a 10% decline, respectively, to close at N17.10, N2.43 and N10.80 per unit. Stocks that lost value include Prestige, which declined by 9.80% to close at N0.46, and Consolidated Hallmark Holdings Plc, which lost 9.52% to close at N1.33 per unit.

Mutual Benefits, Transcorp, Airtel Africa, and GTCO were the volume and value drivers of the day's market trend. The traded volume of shares rose to 515.81 million from 368.63 million units valued at N5.57bn from 9,370 deals executed.

Analysts have projected that the bullish sentiment in the market will be sustained this week as investors position themselves for the New Year through sectoral portfolio rebalancing.

However, investors in the market are expected to engage in profit-taking and bargain-hunting for dividend-paying stocks, given the reporting and earnings season is just around the corner.