Stock investors record N163bn gain as market halts loss trend

Nigerian stock investors on Tuesday July 23 recouped about N163billion from the previous losses which had pushed the market to record lows.

The record positive at the Lagos Bourse was driven by activities of value hunters who rushed to take positions in equities like Nestle Nigeria Plc, Dangote Cement Plc, Lafarge Africa Plc, MTNN Plc and Cement Company of Northern Nigeria.

Twenty-one (21) stocks gained against 15 losers. Nestle led the advancers after its share price moved from N1260 to N1327, adding N67 or 5.32percent; followed by Dangote Cement Plc which rallied from N170 to N174, adding N4 or 2.35percent.

On the loser table, Forte Oil Plc declined most, from N20.15 to N18.15, losing N2 or 9.93percent; followed by International Breweries Plc which dipped from N15.3 to N13.8, losing N1.5 or 9.80percent.

At the sound of trade closing gong, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All Share Index (ASI) increased by 1.21percent, while the Year-to-Date return stood at -10.45percent.

The All Share Index closed at 28,144.87 points as against the preceding day close of 27,808.69points. The value of listed stocks –the Market Capitalisation closed at N13.716 trillion against preceding day close of N13.553trillion, up by N163billion.

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) after its meeting on July 22 and 23, 2019 resolved to: retain the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) at 13.50 percent; retain the Cash Reserves Ratio (CRR) at 22.5 percent; and retain the Liquidity Ratio at 30 percent. Also, the asymmetric window was retained at +200 basis point and -500 basis points, around the MPR.

At the stock market, the volume of stocks traded decreased by 52.69percent, from 285.76million to 135.18million, while the total value of stocks traded decreased by 6.76percent, from N2.244 billion to N2.093billion in 3,358 deals.

The Financial Services sector led the activity chart with 80.21million shares exchanged for N915 million, followed by Industrial Goods with 15.201million shares traded for N506million.

Iheanyi Nwachukwu