By Peter OBIORA InvestAdvocate

Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-Friday brings investors the final trading day of the last full trading week of 2017 as the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) all-share index (ASI) closed positive with a gain of 0.45 percent as week-to-date (WTD) rose 0.22 percent as Santa rally holds.

InvestmentOne daily market update says market breadth index ended positive as 25 stocks gained while seven (7) declined.

The report says the market’s best performer was food and beverage producer, Cadbury Nigeria Plc with a gain of 10.23 percent; while soap and detergent maker Unilever Nigeria Plc topped the losers chart with a loss of 7.31 percent.

Nigeria’s foremost investment conglomerate,  Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc was the most actively traded stock and grew by 2.80 percent with c.84million units of shares worth c.N119 million traded.

In terms of sector performance, the NSE Industrial Index: Performance inched up 0.48 percent on the back of gains recorded in the shares of Nigeria’s most capitalised listed company and cement manufacturer, Dangote Cement Plc which gained 0.84 percent to close the session.

The NSE Banking Index closed up with a gain of 0.53 percent following the gains in the shares of tier one lenders, Access Bank Plc, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, Fidelity Bank Plc, Zenith Bank Plc and Union Bank of Nigeria Plc all appreciating 2.94 percent, 1.69 percent, 3.48 percent, 0.24 percent and 0.54 percent apiece.

Similarly, the NSE Oil and Gas Index gained  by 2.61 percent, largely driven by the gains in the shares of first dual listed Nigerian oil and gas upstream firm, Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc which added 5.00 percent.

The NSE Consumer Goods Index declined by 0.22 percent on the back of the losses  recorded in the shares of beer maker, Nigerian Breweries Plc shedding 0.37 percent which offset the gains in the shares of Nestle Nigeria Plc, sugary refiner, Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc and Cadbury Nigeria Plc all gaining 0.67 percent, 1.55 percent and 10.23 percent respectively.

“Following the improvement in investor sentiment as indicated by the market breadth index, we could see the market continue to trend upwards on the back of renewed buy interest in the near term especially in fundamental names,” the InvestmentOne Report said.

InvestmentOne’s top picks include Access, Dangote Cement, GTBank, Nigerian Breweries, Nestle, UBA and Zenith Bank.

Next week, investors will have just four trading days with markets closed for Christmas, and light volume is expected all week.