Stock Market Hits New Low Amid Persistent Sell-Side Pressure On NGX

The Nigerian equities market continued its decline on Thursday, September 25, 2024 with the market shedding N118 billion, equivalent to a 0.21 percent decrease, as sell-side pressure persisted.

The downturn was influenced by investor reactions to the half-year (H1) financial results of companies and the recent hike in the benchmark interest rate, which has made equities less attractive compared to fixed-income securities.

The Central Bank of Nigeria’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) recently raised the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) from 26.25 percent to 26.75 percent, a measure aimed at controlling inflation but also contributing to the equities market’s sluggish performance.

FCMB Group experienced the largest decline, with its share price dropping from N8 to N7.30, an 8.75 percent decrease.

Cutix followed, with its shares falling from N5.89 to N5.33, a loss of 9.51 percent.

Conversely, Oando saw a gain, with shares rising from N17.95 to N18.50, up 3.06 percent, while United Capital’s shares increased from N37 to N38, a 2.70 percent rise.

The market’s negative reaction to the rate hike led to a decrease in the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) All-Share Index and Market Capitalisation, which fell from 100,365.17 points and N56.830 trillion to 100,156.96 points and N56.712 trillion, respectively.

Active trading was noted in shares of the Tourist Company of Nigeria, Fidelity Bank, Zenith Bank, GTCO, and Access Holdings, with 1,339,599,940 shares worth N9.674 billion exchanged in 8,198 deals.