Key Points

• NGX market capitalization neared N98 trillion as equities extended gains.

• Santa rally delivered N953 billion gains for Nigerian equities investors.

• Banking stocks powered the advance across the Nigerian Exchange market.

The Nigerian stock market ended the week before Christmas on a strong note, with the total value getting closer to N98 trillion as people bought more because they were excited about the holidays. Investors in stocks made more than N953 billion over three sessions, showing that the rally was strong even though the trading calendar was shorter.

The market stayed positive, thanks to strong demand for mid- and large-cap stocks. Portfolio managers kept changing their positions before the end of the year, focussing on sectors that were thought to offer stable earnings and dividend potential.

NGX market capitalisation rises because people are hopeful

The exchange’s data showed that the NGX market capitalisation went up by almost 1% to N97.89 trillion. The All Share Index went up for three days in a row, breaking through the 153,000 level to close at 153,539.83 points, a weekly gain of 0.97 percent. Analysts said that the move showed a continued willingness to take risks rather than too much speculation.

Most of the gains came from big names. People were still interested in buying stocks like Guinness Nigeria, Aluminium Extrusion Company, UBA, and BUA Cement, which kept the market bullish.

Banking stocks raise the value of the NGX market

Banking and consumer goods stocks were the main drivers of the rally, which brought NGX market capitalisation closer to an all-time high. The NGX Consumer Goods and Banking indices went up by 3.34 percent and 2.93 percent, respectively, thanks to demand for International Breweries, Meyer, FirstHoldco, Guinness, and UBA.

Five of the six main sectors were up at the end of the week. Stocks in the industrial and commodity sectors also went up, but oil and gas stocks mostly stayed the same. Insurance stocks fell 2.13 percent after some names sold off, which was behind the rest of the market.

Trading slows down, but the trend stays the same

There were fewer trading days, so trading activity dropped sharply, with volumes and values dropping more than 70% from one week to the next. The number of deals also went down, but brokers said this was because of the holiday season and not because people were losing interest.

The market breadth stayed positive, with more winners than losers. Cowry Asset Management said that technical indicators still point to an uptrend, but there could be small pullbacks as investors take profits. The company thinks that positive sentiment will last until the end of the year, but investors will still be picky.