Nigerian Stocks Gain 0.60% Despite Rate Hike by 1%

By Dipo Olowookere

Nigerian stocks maintained an upward trajectory on Tuesday with a 0.60 per cent growth on a day the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) announced a further rate hike by 100 basis points to 16.5 per cent.

On Monday, the central bank commenced its last Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting for 2022, and the market was expecting the outcome of the deliberations yesterday.

At almost the time the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited was closing for the day, the CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, informed reporters in Abuja that the majority of the committee’s members voted to raise the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) by one per cent to keep the rising inflation under control.

Business Post observed that buying pressure across the sectors of the bourse strengthened the market during the session, with the banking, consumer goods, industrial goods, energy and insurance counters improving by 1.10 per cent, 0.86 per cent, 0.33 per cent, 0.19 per cent, and 0.18 per cent, respectively.

As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 266.37 points to 44,929.33 points from 44,662.96 points, while the market capitalisation grew by N145 billion to N24.472 trillion from N24.327 trillion.

The market breadth remained positive yesterday, with 27 advancers and seven decliners, indicating a strong investor sentiment triggered by renewed interest in the equity market.

UPDC REIT gained 10.00 per cent during the session to settle at N2.75, International Breweries rose by 9.41 per cent to N4.65, Sovereign Trust Insurance improved by 8.33 per cent to 26 Kobo, Fidson inflated by 6.99 per cent to N8.72, and UAC Nigeria increased by 6.74 per cent to N9.50.

However, RT Briscoe lost 10.00 per cent to finish at 27 Kobo, Presco dropped 7.17 per cent to trade at N110.00, Chams deflated by 4.17 per cent to 23 Kobo, Sunu Assurances went down by 3.45 per cent to 28 Kobo, and Consolidated Hallmark Insurance was trimmed by 3.28 per cent to 59 Kobo.

Zenith Bank emerged as the busiest stock during the session after transacting 13.6 million units, followed by Fidelity Bank with 12.2 million units. MTN Nigeria sold 12.0 million shares, AIICO Insurance traded 11.0 million stocks, and Transcorp transacted 10.2 million equities.

Cumulatively, investors bought and sold 126.6 million shares worth N3.9 billion in 3,383 deals on Monday, in contrast to the 151.2 million shares worth N1.9 billion traded in 3,530 deals on Monday, indicating an improvement in the value of transactions by 103.29 per cent, a decline in the volume of trades by 16.29 per cent, and a shortage in the number of deals by 4.16 per cent.