Nigeria’s equities market reached new high on Wednesday, rising by 0.06percent or N18billion, as more investors stayed on the buy side of the bourse.
The equities market recorded its second gain this week, driven by stocks like GTCO, Lasaco and Transcorp. GTCO led the gainers league after its share price moved from N24.60 to N25.20, adding 60kobo or 2.44percent. Also, Lasaco moved up from 98kobo to N1, adding 2kobo or 2.04percent, while Transcorp rose from N1.28 to N1.30, adding 2kobo or 1.56percent.
At its 290th meeting, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) sustained its tightening stance, raising the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) by 50 basis points (bps) to 18percent from 17.50percent, while holding other parameters constant.
“The rate increase would further push up borrowing costs, which could result in less manufacturing activities and adversely impact the real sector. We advise fixed-income investors to position in short-duration and high-yield products as we expect fixed-income yields to rise.
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“For the equities market, we note that the current rate hike does not pose any substantial risk as corporate actions become the main focus for investors,” according to Meristem analysts in their March 22 note.
The Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) All-Share Index (ASI) and its equities Market Capitalisation appreciated further from preceding day’s 54,904.68 points and N29.909trillion respectively to 54,936.11 points and N29.927trillion. The market’s positive return year-to-date (YtD) printed higher at +7.19percent.
Stocks like Transcorp, UBA, Courteville, GTCO and FBN Holdings were actively traded stocks on the Nigerian Bourse. In 2,479 deals, investors exchanged 134,150,558 shares valued at N1.330billion.
