At its meeting in July, the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decided to raise the benchmark interest rate by 50 basis points, or 50 pbs, to 26.75%. By anchoring Nigeria’s rising inflation conditions, the move to raise interest rates served to ensure price stability and help stabilize shifting currency values throughout foreign exchange markets.
At the last meeting, the members of the Apex Bank Committee voted to increase the monetary policy rate from 26.25% and modify the asymmetric corridor to +500bps/-100bps from +100bps/-300bps. The CBN committee decided to maintain the cash reserve ratio at 14.0% for merchant banks and 45.0% for deposit money banks (DMBs) in a unanimous vote. Furthermore, the committee keeps the liquidity ratio at 30.0%.
Market analysts said the downturn came as the Apex Bank raised the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) by 50 basis points to 26.75%. According to information from the NGX, market activities inched lower as the total volume and total value traded decreased by -16.32% and -2.46%, respectively.
Atlass Portfolios Limited told investors in an emailed note that approximately 280.92 million units valued at ₦3,625.62 million were transacted across 8,403 deals. VERITASKAP was the most traded stock in terms of volume. Transactions conducted on the company stock accounted for 8.04% of the total volume traded.
Other volume drivers include UCAP (7.45%), JAIZBANK (7.43%), ACCESSCORP (7.29%), and PRESTIGE (6.01%) to complete the top 5 on the volume chart. Stockbrokers noted that UCAP emerged as the most traded stock in value terms, accounting for 22.57% of the total value traded on the exchange on Tuesday.
IKEJAHOTEL topped the advancers’ chart with a price appreciation of 7.58 percent, trailed by LINKASSURE, which gained +6.90%. Other gainers include CAVERTON (+5.00%), SOVRENINS (+4.17%), CONHALLPLC (+2.96%), LEARNAFRCA (+2.60%), and eight others.
The NGX report showed that twenty-seven stocks depreciated. UPL was the top loser, with a price depreciation of -9.92%. Other decliners include OMATEK (-9.46%), WEMABANK (-3.91%), VITAFOAM (-2.63%), STERLINGNG (-2.50%), and ZENITHBANK (-1.60%).
At the end of the trading session, the market breadth closed negative, recording 14 gainers and 27 losers. In addition, the market sector’s performance was negative.
Sectoral performance showed that two out of the five major indices went down. The banking index declined by -0.67%, and the insurance sector lost -0.15%. On the positive side, the consumer goods sector grew by +0.06%. The industrial and oil & gas sectors closed flat. Overall, the equities market capitalization of the Nigerian Exchange declined by ₦46.70 billion to close at ₦56.95 trillion.
