Stock Market
Investors rushing into Amazon, Apple, Facebook, as NASDAQ sets new record
Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Microsoft have performed better than most businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Stock traders, pension funds, global investors, and asset managers have had a lot to laugh about recently, after the Nasdaq Composite Index (which comprises Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google) broke its trading record numbers.
The Nasdaq Composite surged 1 percent to 11,129.73,
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped by 0.31% to end at 27,844.91 points, while the S&P 500 surged by 0.27 % to 3,381.99.
The Nasdaq closed its most recent trading session at a record. Also, the S&P 500 closed the day four points from its best once again, as most global technology companies had a good showing. The Dow struggled to keep up.
READ MORE: Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon shares drop, top U.S official orders lockdown
Why the NASDAQ is soaring higher
Leading global tech stocks like Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Microsoft have been performing better than most businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is because individuals and businesses have moved to the cloud and remote services, leading to gains for the companies providing such services. These gains have also helped push up these tech firms’ market capitalization which, in turn, helped them to withstand the huge sell-offs recorded in months.
READ: Gold down over increased investor confidence in economic recovery
However, in spite of the technology-powered stock index setting new records, Stephen Innes, the Chief Global Market Strategist at AxiCorp, spoke about the growing concerns among global investors. He said:
“Muggy, sluggish, and unsettled conditions are typically mirrored in markets at this time of year. Political malevolence and the lingering pandemic have only added to stresses in 2020.
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“Still, it was another day where everything rallied except the US dollar. The ideal investor’s situation where all assets are pretty much roped to the hip of US policy stimulus and the expectations of more to come.
“Yes, big tech is doing its part, but when the bearish argument is centering on the failure to make new record highs on the S&P 500, it would suggest sentiment is in a pretty good place. And with the high-frequency indicators that investors track for the US do not indicate that the recovery is falling off the cliff either.”
Stock Market
Flour Mills’ GMD acquires shares worth ₦54.6 million
Paul Miyonmide Gbedebo has acquired 1,949,839 additional units of Flour Mills Nigeria Plc, worth ₦54.6 million.
Flour Mills Nigeria Plc (FMN) has notified the Nigerian Stock Exchange that its Group Managing Director, Paul Miyonmide Gbedebo, has acquired 1,949,839 additional units of Flour Mills Nigeria Plc’s shares, worth ₦54.6 million.
In line with the Nigerian Stock Exchange policy on insider dealing, the formal disclosure was made by the Group’s Secretary, Mr. Joseph Umolu.
According to the disclosure, Mr. Gbedebo acquired the additional shares in a single transaction, at an average share price of ₦28.00 per share, on November 17th 2020.
This put the total consideration for the shares purchased by the Managing Director at ₦54,595,492.00
At the end of trading activities today, November 24 2020, shares of Flour Mills Nigeria Plc closed at ₦25.40. This price, however, is 49.41% higher than its 52-week low of ₦17.00.
Why this matters
Dealings by insiders of listed companies are corporate actions to be disclosed, as required by the Nigerian Stock Exchange to aid transparency.
Stock Market
First Bank, UBA, Stanbic jumpstart Nigerian stocks
STANBIC led 25 Gainers as against 16 Losers topped by ETERNA at the end of today’s session.
Market Views
Tesla up 500% in 2020, near $500 billion market value
The tech powerhouse is now less than $6 billion short of approaching the $500 billion market value.
Tesla, the electric car automaker, has gained 500% in 2020 and has become by far the world’s most valuable automaker in the world, despite it producing far less than Volkswagen, Toyota, or General Motors.
The tech powerhouse is now less than $6 billion short of approaching the $500 billion market value, and extending its surge since reports struck Wall Street on Tesla making its S&P 500 debut on December 21, forcing index funds to buy billions of dollars of its share.
READ: U.S stock futures trade flat, Apple regains $2 trillion market value
Unsurprisingly, it became global investors’ choice amid its recent price action rising by 6% – showing a gain of over 6%. Tesla Inc. extended its rally at the most recent trading session ahead of its December debut in the S&P 500 (SPX), as it is now worth a market value of $494 billion.
READ: Nigeria spends N1.08 trillion to import used cars and motorbikes in one year
Its market capitalization is higher than the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of any African country, Nigeria – $448.1billion, South Africa – $351.4billion, Egypt – $303.2billion, Algeria – $169.98billion, Morocco – $118.7billion, Ethiopia – $96.12billion, Kenya – $95.5 billion, Angola – $94.6 billion, Ghana – $66.9 billion, Tanzania – $63.2 billion.
READ: Dangote Cement, Nigerian Breweries drop, investors lose N46 billion
What you should know
Now worth $494 billion, Tesla will increase the concentration of heavyweight companies within the S&P 500. It will be the 7th most valuable company within the index, just behind Berkshire Hathaway and ahead of Visa Inc., according to Refinitiv data.
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- About a fifth of the car company’s shares is owned by its Chief Executive, Elon Musk and other insiders.
- The S&P 500 is weighted by the number of companies’ stocks available on the stock market.
- The car company’s influence within the benchmark will be slightly reduced, putting it in 8 positions, just behind Johnson & Johnson, with an equivalent of about 1% of the S&P 500 index.
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