Investors gain N578bn as Santa Claus rally boosts NGX.

The Nigerian equities market (NGX) closed bullish on Tuesday with the market capitalisation, which opened at N97.193 trillion, adding N578 billion or 0.59 per cent to close at N97.771 trillion.

The bullish rally was propelled by gains in stocks like: Aluminium Extrusion Industries, Austinlaz, Custodian Investment, First Holding Company, FTN Cocoa Processors and 24 others.

The All-Share Index also gained 0.59 per cent or 895.07 points, to settle at 153,354.14 against 152,459.07 recorded on Monday.

As a result, the Year-To-Date (YTD) return rose to 48.99 per cent.

Also, the market breadth closed positive with 29 gainers and 27 losers.

The gainers chart was led by Aluminium Extrusion Industries, increasing by 9.96 per cent, ending the session at N14.90, Austinlaz trailed by 9.81 per cent, closing at N2.91 and Custodian Investment grew by 9.69 per cent, finishing at N38 50 per share.

Similarly, First Holding Company soared by 9.35 per cent, settling at N50.30 while FTN Cocoa Processors gained by 8 .74 per cent, closing at N5.10 per share.

On the other hand, Royal Exchange led the losers’ chart on NGX on Tuesday by 7.22 per cent, finishing at N1.80, Champion Breweries followed by 6.57 per cent, settling at N15.65 and National Salt Company shed by 5.36 per cent, closing at N105.05 per share.

Also, Sovereign Trust Insurance dropped by 5.28 per cent, ending the session at N3.77 while Japaul Gold dipped by 4.51 per cent, closing at N2.33 per share.

VFD Group recorded the highest volume with 191.97 million shares traded, while GTCO recorded the highest value at N5.59 billion.

Commenting on the bullish on NGX run, Vice President of Highcap Securities, Mr David Adonri, said the positive rally was in line with the season, describing it as the “Santa Claus Rally,” a global phenomenon.

He noted, however, that there are deviations in some years.

“What we see now is that a lot of portfolio managers are rebalancing their portfolios while demand is be orchestrated.

Also, a lot of investors are currently taking position to align themselves to benefit from the year end distributions by companies,” he said.