U.S. stocks were all fired up at its most recent trading session, amid high hopes on U.S President-Elect, Joe Biden’s smooth transition to power and its top pick for the post of U.S treasury, Janet Yellen, saw investors buying at record levels, leading the Dow 30 to reach its all-time high.

• A significant number of gains were seen in the Basic Materials, Oil & Gas, and Financial sectors.
• At the close of trading at the New York Stock Exchange, the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged by 1.55% to hit a new all-time high, while the S&P 500 index gained 1.63%, and the NASDAQ Composite index added 1.32%.
• The best performers of the session on the Dow Jones Industrial Average were Chevron Corp, which rose 4.92% or 4.48 points to trade at 95.51 at the close.
• Meanwhile, JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE: JPM) added 4.28% or 5.05 points to end at 122.92 and American Express Company was up 3.88% or 4.51 points to 120.60 in late trade.

What they are saying

Stephen Innes, Chief Global Market Strategist at Axi, in a note to Nairametrics, hinted at key fundamentals presently pushing U.S stocks to record high:

“The Dow Jones index hit a symbolic milestone overnight, breaking through the 30,000 level. Market sentiment remains underpinned by the trio of successful vaccine trials announced in recent weeks, as well as, by the U.S. President’s decision after the close on Tuesday to co-operate with a transition of power to President-elect Joe Biden.

“Thanks to the multiple vaccines in the pipeline. ‘Joy to the World’ is ringing in earlier than expected as global investors are elated by the vaccine news.”

What this means

Janet L. Yellen, a highly respected Economist, has been tipped to become the first female Treasury Secretary. This has apparently excited investors based on her impeccable records leading the U.S Federal Reserve, some years ago.

Bottom line

Stock traders are simultaneously reveling in the drop in political existential risk premium now knowing the finishing touches on the U.S. election process will not devolve in mobocracy, as the U.S. General Services Administration acknowledged that Joe Biden can start his formal transition to the White House.

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.

Nigerian bourse ended Tuesday’s trading session on a positive note. The All Share index gained 0.64% to close at 34,340.56 points as against the 0.04%  drop recorded on Monday. Its Year-to-Date (YTD) returns currently stands at +27.94%.

• Nigerian Stocks trading turnover cumulatively tanked lower, as trading volume dipped by 35.67% as against +64.69% uptick recorded on Monday. ZENITH BANK, TRANSCORP and GUARANTY were the most active to boost market turnover.
• The market breadth closed positive as STANBIC led 25 Gainers as against 16 Losers topped by ETERNA at the end of today’s session – an improved performance when compared with the previous outlook.
• CILEASING leads the list of active stocks that recorded an impressive volume spike at the end of today’s session.

Top gainers

1. STANBIC up 7.08% to close at N42.35
2. UBA up 6.49% to close at N8.2
3. ACCESS up 5.70% to close at N8.35
4. FBNH up 6.72% to close at N7.15
5. UPDCREIT up 9.64% to close at N4.55

Top losers

1. ETERNA down 9.98% to close at N4.15
2. FIDSON down 9.81% to close at N4.87
3. JBERGER down 8.95% to close at N17.3
4. UACN down 3.77% to close at N7.65
5. GUINNESS down 2.78% to close at N17.5

Outlook

Nigerian Stocks soared higher at the second trading session of the week, coupled with Africa’s largest exporting earning product, crude oil reaching its highest level since March.

• Significant buying pressure from Nigerian tier-1 banks which include First Bank, UBA, Stanbic, rallied Nigerian Stocks north, on the bias showing Nigeria’s apex bank in its just-concluded monetary policy meeting retained the monetary policy rate and cash reserve ratio.
• Nairametrics envisages cautious buying amid reports that still show COVID-19 pandemic will remain on the major headlines, at least in the near term.