Stocks fall as investors focus on MPC outcome

The Nigerian stock market further took the negative route yesterday as investors cautiously approached the local bourse while awaiting the outcome of Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting which is expected to end today.

No doubt, the Monetary Policy Committee meeting which started yesterday is arguably the most challenging for the Committee this year.

The dawn of the much expected oil price shock and the consequent exchange rate and assets prices volatility in the last one month demand major monetary action to moderate if not stemmed.

The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) All Share Index (ASI) shaved 0.15 percent after the end of trading on falling from 33,926 to 33,875 points. Also, equities market capitalisation closed down at N11.18trn, from a high of N11.24trn as at last Friday, losing about N6bn. 0.5 percent.

Academy Press plc, University Press plc, Africa Prudential Registrars plc, Honeywell Flour Mills plc, and Cutix plc led the pack of 17 stocks that lost yesterday, against 28 gainers.

The share price of Academy Press plc dropped from N1 to N0.95, down by N0.05 or 5 percent; that of University Press plc declined from N4.13 to N3.93, losing N0.20 or 4.84 percent; Africa Prudential Registrars plc also lost after its share price dropped from N3 to N2.88, down by N0.12 or 4 percent; Honeywell Flour Mills plc dipped by N0.13 or 3.96 percent, from an open level of N3.28 to close at N3.15; while Cutix plc joined the pack of top five laggards after its share price dropped from N1.53 to N1.47, down by N0.06 or 3.92 percent.

Meanwhile, on the gainers table UACN Properties led the pack after its share price rose from N10.52 to N11.40, adding N0.88 or 8.37 percent; Oando plc also appreciated from N20.39 to N21.41, adding N1.02 or 5 percent; Okomu Oil Palm plc, rallied from a low of N26.80 to close at N28.14, adding N1.34 or 5 percent; UBA Capital plc gained N0.08 or 4.97 percent, from N1.61 to N1.69; RT Briscoe plc share price rose from N0.81 to N0.85, after adding N0.04 or 4.94 percent; while Transnational Corporation of Nigeria plc also recorded increased buy which pushed its share price up from an open level of N3.88 to N4.07 at the close of deals. The shares price of Transcorp plc rose by N0.19 or 4.90 percent.

The top five gainers were UACN Properties, gaining 8.37 percent to close at N11.4; Oando, gaining 5 percent to close at N21.41; Okomu Oil, which gained 5 percent to close at N26.80; UBA Capital gained 4.97 percent to close at N1.69, and RT Briscoe, which gained 4.9 percent to close at N0.85.

Of the eight indices tracked by the bourse, the best performer was the NSE Oil and Gas index which gained 1.8 percent from the previous trading day. The NSE consumer goods index, was the second best performing index, with a marginal increase of 0.59 percent. The banking index increased by only 0.03 percent.

The most traded stocks yesterday was First Bank with 442 deals worth N501.4bn; GTB with 318 deals valued at N166.5m; and Oando in 247 deals worth N97.9m. In 3,567 deals, equity dealers exchanged 265.9m shares valued at N2.89bn.