The equity market gained N472 billion, or 0.75 per cent, on Tuesday as investors responded to the 50 per cent tariff hike passed by the National Communication Commission (NCC).
Investors’ buy interest in MTN Nigeria, alongside tier-one banking stocks namely, Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO), Zenith Bank, Access Corporation, among other advanced equities, propelled the market’s upward trend.
NCC on Monday approved requests from network operators for tariff adjustments, in response to rising operational costs, marking the first change in rates since 2013.
The decision, announced in a statement signed by the NCC’s Director of Public Affairs, Mr Reuben Muoka, allows for a maximum adjustment of 50 per cent to current tariffs.
This is significantly less than the over 100 per cent proposed by some operators.
NCC said it was exercising its authority under Section 108 of the Communications Act, 2003,
It emphasised that the new tariffs would remain within the limits outlined in its 2013 cost study.
Accordingly, the Nigerian Exchange Ltd.(NGX)market capitalisation added 0.75 per cent or 472 billion to an opening of N62.861 trillion, to close at N63.333 trillion.
The All-Share Index also went up by 0.75 per cent or 768 points, to close at 103,137.99, against 102,370.36 recorded on Monday.
As a result, the Year-To-Date (YTD) return advanced to 0.21 per cent.
Meanwhile, market breadth closed flat with 29 gainers and 29 losers on the floor of the Exchange.
MTN led the gainers’ chart by 10 per cent to close at N256.30 per share, while Secure Electronic Technology Plc led the losers chart by 9.88 per cent to close at 73k per share.
On a breakdown of activities, the turnover settled lower relative to the previous session, with the value of transactions down by 32.24 per cent.
A total of 440.32 million shares valued at N11.97 billion were exchanged in 13,087 deals, compared with 1.33 billion shares valued at N17.67 billion traded in 13,891 deals, posted previously.
Lasaco Assurance led the activity chart in volume with 108.04 million shares, while Seplat led in value of deals worth N3.54 billion.
