Nigeria, Sept. 24 -- The Nigerian stock market has not yet reacted favorably to the Central Bank of Nigeria's lowering of the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) to 27 percent, the first such reduction in five years.

Announced following a two-day Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting, the long-awaited action sought to stimulate economic activity and lighten credit conditions for households and companies.



But as the benchmark index fell 0.40 percent to 140,929.6 points, pulling market capitalization to N89.198 trillion, the equities market closed in the red. Wide-ranging losses were present, with the worst hit among important industries like oil and gas and finance.

Given good half-year results from banks and expectations for interim divide...