Nigerian Stock Exchange Gains 1.1% on Wednesday

• Nigerian Stock Exchange Gains 1.1% on Wednesday

The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) ends eight days of consecutive losses on Wednesday despite the federal government announcing five additional cases of coronavirus.

The market capitalisation of listed equities gained N128 billion from N11.747 trillion it closed on Tuesday to N11.875 trillion on Wednesday. While the NSE All-Share Index rose by 1.09 percent to 22,789.64 basis points, up from 22,543.07 it closed on Tuesday.

The activity level was positive as 671.519 million shares valued at N10.578 billion were traded in 7,247 transactions during the trading session.

MTN gainers’ chat with N9.5 or 10 percent profit to N104.5 per share. This was followed by GTbank’s N1.3 or 6.63 percent gain to N20.9 per share.

Cadbury, PZ and Caverton gained 0.55 kobo, 0.4 kobo and 0.22 kobo to N6.25, N4.45 and N2.5 per share.

On top losers’ chart was Nestle, Okomuoil and Dangote Cement with N35.3, N4.95 and N4.3 decline, respectively. Also, UACN and Afriprud declined by 0.3 and 0.26, respectively.

The positive momentum may not be unconnected to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) detailed measures to stimulate the economy and support business activities.

The apex bank announced a 4 percent deduction on interest rates of special intervention from 9 percent to 5 percent, also directed banks to extend tenor on loans to accommodate current economic situations. Investors seem to have welcome the measures despite the inflation rate rising to 12.2 percent in February. A 21-month high.