As positive sentiment continued on Nigerian Exchange Limited following the ‘Santa Claus Rally’ Airtel Africa Plc and MTN Nigeria Plc recorded a gain of 3.31% during the week’s trading.
Positive sentiment witnessed on shares of the telecom firms during the week resulted in investors of the company gaining about N394 billion at the close of trading on December 23rd.
The market sentiment for the segment which comprises two telecom firms-MTN Nigeria Plc and Airtel Africa Plc has remained resilient in the face of economic volatility.
Breakdown of the gains:
Airtel closed its last trading day (Friday 22, December 2023) at N1,887.60 per share and N7.053 trillion in market capitalization on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NGX) as against N1800 per share and N6.764 trillion in market capitalisation the previous Friday, hence has earned a gain of N289 billion or 4.27 % week to date.
Also, MTN Nigeria shares rose to N250 per share or N5.248 trillion in market capitalization after the week’s trading from N245 per share or N5.143 trillion the previous week, hence has added N105 billion or 2.04% to the market capitalization.
According to market analysts, there is certainly an impact on the equities as a result of the Santa Claus Rally, also known as the December effect.
Santa Claus Rally is a term for the occurrence of more frequent than average stock market gains as the year winds down.
The rally describes a sustained increase in the stock market that occurs in the week leading up to December 25.
Philosophies for the Santa Claus rally’s presence include increased holiday shopping, optimism fueled by the seasonal spirit, and institutional investors relaxing their books before going on Christmas vacation.
The NGX All-Share Index and Market Capitalisation appreciated by 2.26% to close the week at 74,023.27 and N40.507 trillion respectively.
Similarly, all other indices finished higher except NGX ASeM, NGX Consumer Goods, and NGX Growth which depreciated by 0.90%, 0.70%, and 0.18% respectively while the NGX Sovereign Bond index closed flat.
A total turnover of 2.474 billion shares worth N53.787 billion in 35,848 deals was traded this week by investors on the floor of the Exchange, in contrast to a total of 1.882 billion shares valued at N31.630 billion that exchanged hands last week in 33,020 deals.
The Financial Services Industry (measured by volume) led the activity chart with 1.756 billion shares valued at N24.641 billion traded in 17,589 deals; thus contributing 70.95% and 45.81% to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
The Conglomerates Industry followed with 222.963 million shares worth N1.781 billion in 2,573 deals. The third place was the services Industry, with a turnover of 93.820 million shares worth N528.510 million in 2,166 deals.
Trading in the top three equities namely Abbey Mortgage Bank Plc, Transnational Corporation Plc, and Access Holdings Plc (measured by volume) accounted for 621.814 million shares worth N6.338 billion in 4,235 deals, contributing 25.13% and 11.78% to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
