The Nigerian stock market rerouted north on Wednesday, May 25 by 1.24percent, recouping about N346billion from Tuesday’s loss of N519billion.

This was mainly driven by remarkable rise in the share price of Airtel Africa Plc which moved up by N138 or 9.39percent, from preceding day low of N1470 to N1608.

Only ten (10) equities advanced in price as against 42 decliners. The market was able to halt early week’s record bearish run following announcement of Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) hawkish approach on Tuesday.

“With the Monetary Policy rate hike and profit taking activities, the market closed today’s (Wednesday) session with sell-offs across all sectors except for the telecoms sector, where demand in the dual-listed stock Airtel Africa improved market performance. We are likely to see another bearish close as negative sentiments filter into tomorrow’s (Thursday) trading session,” analysts at Lagos-based Vetiva Capital Management said in their Wednesday note to investors.

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The market’s benchmark performance indicators – the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) All-Share Index (ASI) and Market Capitalisation increased from 51,949.64 points and N28.006trillion respectively to 52,591.41 points and N28.352trillion. The stock market’s positive return year-to-date (YtD) increased to 23.12percent.

Also on the top advancers list is Royal Exchange Plc which increased from N1.10 to N1.14, after adding 4kobo or 3.64percent. The market gained despite major laggards like PZ Cussons Plc which decreased most from N12.60 to N11.35, losing N1.25 or 9.92percent; and NEM Insurance which rose from N4 to N3.63, after adding 37kobo or 9.25percent.

Shares of UACN, UBA, Access Holdings, FBN Holdings and Transcorp were actively traded on the Nigerian Exchange on Wednesday, May 25. In 5,922 deals, investors exchanged 382,455,077 shares valued at N4.233billion.

Iheanyi Nwachukwu, is a creative content writer with almost two decades journalism experience writing on banking, finance, capital markets, and tax. The multiple awards winning journalist is Assistant Editor, BusinessDay. Iheanyi holds BSc Degree in Economics from Imo State University; Master of Science (MSc) Degree in Management from University of Lagos. Iheanyi has attended several work-related trainings including (i) Advanced Writing and Reporting Skills (Pan African University, Lagos); (ii) News Agency Journalism (Indian Institute of Mass Communication {IIMC}, New Delhi, India); and (iii) Capital Markets Development and Regulations (International Law Institute {ILI} of Georgetown University, Washington DC, USA). Other trainings Iheanyi attended include: Economic/Political Risk Analysis (By Thomson Reuters Foundation); International Financial Journalism (IFJ) (By PMA Media Training, UK); Effective Business Writing Skills (By Phillips Consulting); Reporting on Corporate Governance (By International Finance Corporation (IFC) & Thomson Reuters Foundation UK); etc. In addition, he has participated in high-level economy & markets events in Dubai, South Africa, Morocco, and other African countries like Zambia, Ghana and Gambia.

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