•As market cap rises N1bn
By Chinwendu Obienyi and Chukwuma Umeorah
Following the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decision to moderately raise interest rates by 50 basis points, investors at the Stock Exchange made a sudden comeback in equities market.
Thenation’s securities market had endured some bit of profit-taking especially after the Presidential elections and after recent rallies, risk-off sentiments resonated in the market last week.
With the development, analysts had said investors would focus on the outcome of the bond auction and the MPC meeting to gain further clarity on the movement of yields in the fixed income market.
On resumption of the market on Tuesday, Daily Sun observed that the market was primed to close proceedings on a flat note till the MPC decided it will raise the rates moderately to avoid instability in the financial system.
Further investigations revealed that the appreciation in the shares Wapco, Zenith Bank and Champion Breweries pushed the All Share Index (ASI) up by 0.03 per cent to close at 54,904.68 points while investors gained N1 billion as market capitalization closed at N29.909 trillion.
Investors appetite remained mixed as 12 securities appreciated while 12 others depreciated in value. Linkage Assurance topped the gainers’ chart with 9.76 per cent to close at 0.45 kobo per share, Wapic followed with 7.89 per cent to close at 0.41 kobo, Champion Breweries gained 4.26 per cent to close at N4.90, Sterling Bank garnered 2.67 per cent to close at N1.54 while Jaiz Bank recorded 2.30 per cent to close at 0.89 kobo.
On the other hand, Cadbury topped the losers’ chart with 5.83 per cent to close at N11.30 per share. International Breweries was next with 4.30 per cent to close at N4.45, Africa Prudential fell by 1.67 per cent to close at N5.90, Transcorp dropped 1.54 per cent to close at N1.28 while UBA lost 1.23 per cent to close at N8.
At the close of trading, the volume of stocks traded stood at 127.744 million while the value of stocks traded stood at N1.58 billion, which exchanged in 2,987 deals.
UBA topped the activity chart with the sale of 19.60 million shares worth N157.24 million. Transcorp traded 49.12 million shares valued at N108.29 million while Fidelity Bank sold 12.73 million shares valued at N65.66 million.
Reacting to the development, analysts at Cordros Research, said, “We expect cautious trading from domestic investors in the short term. Overall, we reiterate the need for positioning in only fundamentally sound stocks as the uninspiring macro story remains a significant headwind for corporate earnings”.