Lagos – The market capitalisation of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), on Tuesday, appreciated by N74 billion over rates retention by the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the market capitalisation which opened at N9.278 trillion rose by N74 billion or 0.80 per cent to close at N9.352 trillion.
Also, the All-Share Index increased by 215.53 points or 0.80 per cent to close at 27,231.50 against 27,015.97 achieved on Monday.
Mr Okechukwu Unegbu, former President, Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), attributed the growth to the apex bank’s rates retention.
Unegbu said that investors and traders reacted positively to the rates retention due to speculation in some quarters that the rates would be reviewed upward.
NAN reports that the MPC at the end of the meeting retained the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) at 12 per cent, while Cash Reserve Requirement (CRR) and liquidity ratio were also retained at 22.5 per cent and 30 per cent, respectively.
The committee also asked the CBN to work on a flexible exchange rate system, with no mention of devaluation, adding that details of the framework would be released at appropriate time.
Major blue chips recorded price growth with Dangote Cement leading the gainers’ table, growing by N2.92 to close at N170.01 per share.
Nigerian Breweries followed with a gain of N2.31 to close at N177.01, while Ecobank Transnational gained 48k to close at N15.60 per share.
Vitafoam appreciated by 30k to close at N4.60, while NAHCO advanced by 22k to close at N4.78 per share.
On the other hand, CAP recorded the highest price loss, shedding N2 to close at N21.54 per share.
GlaxoSmithkline trailed with a loss of 88k to close at N21.54, while Cadbury declined by 86k to close at N16.38 per share.
Union Dicon shed 62k to close at N11.90 and Stanbic IBTC lost 42k to close at N16.12 per share.
FBN Holdings was the toast of investors in volume terms, exchanging 81.82 million shares worth N311.24 million.
United Capital followed with 28.35 million shares valued at N56.99 million, while Access Bank traded 28.35 million shares worth N145.53 million.
Zenith Bank sold 17.29 million shares valued at N260.28 million and FCMB Group exchanged 16.89 million shares worth N23.97 million.
NAN also reports that a total of 274.22 million shares valued at N1.54 billion were transacted by investors in 4,160 deals.
This was against the 316.74 million shares worth N1.91 billion traded in 3,924 deals on Monday. (NAN)
