Stock market extends gains as CBN maintains policy rates

By Chukwuma Umeorah

Nigeria’s equities market extended its positive run on Tuesday as the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) concluded its July meeting with a decision to retain all benchmark interest rates, reinforcing investor sentiment across sectors.

The NGX All-Share Index rose by 0.47 per cent to close at 132,451.73 points, while market capitalisation added N395 billion, settling at N83.79 trillion. With this, the market’s year-to-date (YTD) return advanced to 28.69 per cent.

The MPC left the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) unchanged at 27.50 per cent, alongside the asymmetric corridor at +500/-100 basis points, the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) for deposit money banks at 50 percent, and liquidity ratio at 30 per cent.

As predicted by market watchers, investors responded positively to the decision, supported by declining fixed income yields, the ongoing banking sector recapitalisation drive, and interim dividend expectations from listed firms. Trading activity remained upbeat, with total volume increasing to 762.6 million shares valued at N26.43 billion across 32,365 deals.

Cowry Asset Management analysts observed that “sentiment was moderately mixed,” noting that while 36 stocks advanced and 34 declined, the overall tone of the market reflected sustained bargain hunting and improved liquidity.

Major drivers of Tuesday’s rally included Dangote Sugar Refinery, which gained 10 per cent to close at N56.10, and The Initiates Plc, which appreciated by 9.97 per cent to N12.13. Other strong performers were Sovereign Trust Insurance adding 9.84 per cent, Nigerian Enamelware gained 9.83 per cent, while University Press rose by 9.82 per cent.

Sectoral indices showed that the Industrial Goods Index led with a 2.87 per cent increase, followed by gains in the Consumer Goods, Insurance, and Banking indices.

In contrast, the Oil & Gas and Commodity indices recorded slight declines.

Among the top traded stocks were Access Holdings, Ellah Lakes, UBA, GTCO, and Lafarge Africa, accounting for a significant share of both value and volume traded during the session.

Despite the market rally, the naira depreciated slightly by 0.18 per cent to N1,535 per dollar at the official window, aligning with the parallel market rate.