Haleem Olatunji, The CableNG
The Nigerian Stock Nigerian (NSE) market capitalisation, which is the total value of all listed equities, has hit the N20 trillion mark.
TheCable had reported how Santa Claus Rally pushed the market to record new highs last week with the market capitalisation hitting N19.24 trillion.
Santa Claus Rally refers to the tendency for the stock market to rally over the last weeks of December into the New Year.
On Wednesday, market capitalisation rose by N476 billion or 2.40 percent to close at N20.281 trillion from N19.805 trillion achieved on Tuesday.
The all-share index (ASI) which opened at 37,892.61 points inched higher by 911.13 points or 2.40 percent to close at 38,803.74.
The sustained rally was as a result of buying interests in some highly capitalised equities such as Airtel Africa, UBA Cement and Nigerian Breweries.
Accordingly, month-to-date and year-to-date gain increased to 10.7 percent and 44.6 percent, respectively.
At the end of trading activities, market breadth closed positive with 26 gainers in contrast with seven losers.
Associated Bus Company and Japaul Gold and Ventures dominated the gainers’ chart in percentage terms, gaining 10 percent each to close at 33k and 44k per share, respectively.
Airtel Africa followed with 9.99 percent to close at N851.80 per share, Eterna garnered 9.98 percent to close at N4.96, while BOC Gases appreciated by 9.85 percent to close at N8.70 per share.
On the losing end, FCMB Group depreciated by 3.97 percent to close at N2.90 per share. PZ Cussons followed with a loss of 3.64 percent to close at N5.30, while Lasaco Assurance shed 3.13 percent to close at 31k per share.
AXA Mansard shed three percent to close at 97k while May and Baker Nigeria depreciated by 0.79 percent to close at N3.75 per share.
Transactions in the shares of Access Bank topped the activity chart with an exchange of 1.04 billion shares valued at N8.39 billion.
This is followed by Veritas Kapital Assurance, Flour Mills, BUA Cement, and Zenith Bank.
The total volume of shares traded increased by 238.6 percent with a total of 1.49 billion shares worth N18.75 billion traded in 4,316 deals.
