Stock Market Rises 0.18% as CBN Raises Rate by 0.50%

By Dipo Olowookere

The Nigerian stock market appreciated by 0.18 per cent on Tuesday after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) further increased the interest rate by 50 basis points or 0.50 per cent.

The central bank governor, Mr Yemi Cardoso, while addressing journalists after the end of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting yesterday, said the members felt it was still necessary to tighten the rates despite predictions that the group would bring down the rates.

Investors at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited reacted to the announcement positively and continued to mop up shares with sound fundamentals, particularly in the financial services industry.

The banking space rose by 3.01 per cent, the insurance counter appreciated by 2.16 per cent, and the industrial goods sector improved by 0.04 per cent.

However, the consumer goods index went down by 0.28 per cent and the energy counter depreciated at the close of transactions by 0.11 per cent.

The All-Share Index (ASI) gained 181.99 points during the session to settle at 98,568.59 points compared with the previous day’s 98,386.60 points and the market capitalisation increased by N105 billion to N56.641 trillion versus Monday’s N56.536 trillion.

The Nigeria Infrastructure Development Fund topped the gainers’ chart yesterday after it chalked up 9.94 per cent to trade at N111.70, FBN Holdings jumped by 9.93 per cent to N31.00, Ellah Lakes grew by 9.76 per cent to N3.71, Fidelity Bank expanded by 9.70 per cent to N16.40, and ABC Transport appreciated by 9.52 per cent to N1.15.

On the flip side, Oando topped the losers’ group after it lost 10.00 per cent to close at N72.00, Okomu Oil declined by 9.98 per cent to N376.00, Caverton shed 9.88 per cent to N3.65, Multiverse crashed by 9.82 per cent to N10.10, and Fidson tumbled by 9.74 per cent to N15.75.

The activity chart was mixed yesterday after the trading volume went down by 5.85 per cent, while the trading value and the number of deals went up by 42.17 per cent and 13.23 per cent, respectively.

A total of 763.0 million shares worth N11.8 billion were traded in 12,081 deals during the session versus the 810.4 million shares valued at N8.3 billion traded in 10,669 deals a day earlier.

Fidelity Bank sold 126.1 million stocks for N2.0 billion to stay on top of the activity chart, as Transcorp transacted 103.4 million shares valued at N1.2 billion. UBA traded 73.5 million equities worth N1.9 billion, Caverton exchanged 43.7 million stocks for N181.5 million, and Ellah Lakes traded 42.1 million equities valued at N156.3 million.