Stock Investors Lose N6bn as MPC Hikes Rate to 14%

By Dipo Olowookere

The decision of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to raise the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) to 14 per cent from 13 per cent had a negative impact on the stock market on Tuesday.

The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited depreciated by 0.02 per cent after the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele, announced the outcome of the two-day meeting in Abuja.

Investors quickly book profit and this reduced the market capitalisation of the exchange by N6 billion to settle at N28.208 trillion compared with the preceding day’s N28.214 trillion as the All-Share Index (ASI) went down by 11.06 points to close at 52,308.88 points versus Monday’s 52,319.94 points.

During the session, the banking and consumer goods sectors depreciated by 0.41 per cent and 0.13 per cent respectively, while the insurance, energy and industrial goods counters grew by 0.86 per cent, 0.79 per cent and 0.19 per cent respectively.

Investors traded 205.6 million shares worth N2.8 billion in 4,127 deals yesterday in contrast to the 116.3 million shares worth N3.5 billion traded in 4,525 deals on Monday, indicating an increase in the trading volume by 76.85 per cent and a decrease in the trading value and the number of deals by 19.57 per cent and 8.80 per cent respectively.

UBA finished the day as the busiest after it sold 74.3 million stocks valued at N556.8 million, Access Holdings transacted 16.1 million shares for N146.5 million, AIICO Insurance traded 14.1 million equities worth N8.9 million, FBN Holdings exchanged 12.8 million shares for N140.5 million, while GTCO transacted 8.9 million equities worth N190.5 million.

Business Post reports that the market breadth closed at equilibrium on Tuesday as there were 16 price gainers and 16 price losers led by Multiverse, which lost 9.50 per cent to trade at N1.62.

Japaul depreciated by 7.41 per cent to 25 Kobo, Academy Press dropped 7.00 per cent to quote at N1.86, Caverton went down by 6.57 per cent to N1.28, while UPDC declined by 4.03 per cent to N1.19.

Conversely, RT Briscoe gained 10.00 per cent to settle at 44 Kobo, GlaxoSmithKline rose by 9.02 per cent to N6.65, Cornerstone Insurance appreciated by 6.45 per cent to 66 Kobo, Courteville grew by 6.38 per cent to 50 Kobo, while FTN Cocoa upgraded its value by 6.06 per cent to 35 Kobo.