Pension Money in Risky Assets Drives NGX to Historic High
Pension money chasing risky assets has continued to drive momentum in the Nigerian stock market with a record N5.11 trillion gain on Monday.
Based on trading patterns, pension fund administrators targeted underpriced stocks and sectoral kings with a healthy earnings and dividends track record.
Buy actions were seen in stocks with solid capital appreciation, undervalued, and low on key man risks that can achieve above average return on pension assets.
Other active players in the stock market also step up to advance their portfolio holdings with expectations that the rally will persist in the first quarter of the year.
Hence, the equities market closed on a positive note as the All-Share Index (ASI) advanced by 436bps, bringing year-to-date gains to 22.27%.
Trade value increased by 21.42% to $47.14 million, with MTNN, DANGCEM, BUACEMENT, and ZENITHBANK among the key drivers of the bullish session. Market breadth was strong, with 56 stocks recording gains against 27 decliners.
ZICHIS, ABCTRANS, IKEJAHOTEL, MCNICHOLS, BETAGLAS, OANDO, and ARADEL, all up 10%, led the gainers’ chart, while RTBRISCOE declined by 9.99% to top the losers’ table.
ACCESSCORP dominated activity by volume with 86.72 million shares traded, whereas ARADEL led by value at ₦11.02 billion.
Sector performance was broadly positive as the Banking Index rose by 471bps, driven by strong rallies in ZENITHBANK (+9.95%), ACCESSCORP (+8.87%), GTCO (+7.14%), WEMABANK (+5.58%), FCMB (+3.11%), UBA (+2.59%), and FIDELITYBK (+1.91%), while ETI shed 2.22%.
The Consumer Goods Index rose by 144bps on the back of gains in MCNICHOLS (+10%), NASCON (+9.06%), NESTLE (+6.31%), VITAFOAM (+5.18%), NB (+3.21%), CADBURY (+3.03%), DANGSUGAR (+2.07%), GUINNESS (+1.59%), and HONYFLOUR (+1.14%), offset slightly by a 2.62% loss in PZ.
The Oil and Gas Index climbed 473bps, buoyed by ARADEL (+10%), OANDO (+10%), and JAPAULGOLD (+9.96%), while the NGX Industrial Index surged 777bps following gains in BETAGLAS (+10%), DANGCEM (+9.95%), BUACEMENT (+5.73%), WAPCO (+5.04%), and CUTIX (+2.42%).
