By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange bounced back on Thursday, April 3 from its previous day’s loss, gaining 0.24 per cent at the close of business.

This increased the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 7.78 points to 3,316.34 points from the preceding trading day’s 3,308.46 points and raised the portfolios of unlisted securities investors by N4.55 billion as the market capitalisation ended at N1.915 trillion compared with Wednesday’s N1.910 trillion.

This growth occurred after the bourse finished with three price gainers and one price loser, IPWA Plc, which shed 5 Kobo to end at 50 Kobo per share, in contrast to midweek’s value of 55 Kobo per share.

Business Post reports that FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc gained N2.16 to close at N38.66 per unit versus N36.50 per unit, First Trust Microfinance Bank Plc appreciated by 2 Kobo to 58 Kobo per unit from 56 Kobo per unit, and Food Concepts Plc rose by 1 Kobo to N1.18 per share from N1.17 per share.

Data indicated that there was a decrease of 95.9 per cent in the volume of securities bought and sold by the market participants to 372,568 units from the 9.1 million units transacted in the previous trading day.

Equally, the value of transactions slid by 43.7 per cent to N4.1 million from N7.2 million, and the number of deals went up by 81.8 per cent to 40 deals from 22 deals.

When the market ended for the session, Impresit Bakolori Plc was the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 533.9 million units worth N520.9 million, followed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 70.2 million units sold for N23.8 million, and Geo Fluids Plc with 44.2 million units valued at N89.4 million.

FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc finished the trading day as the active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 13.8 million units valued at N531.6 million, trailed by Impresit Bakolori Plc with 533.9 million units worth N520.9 million, and Afriland Properties Plc with 17.8 million units sold for N364.2 million.

By Adedapo Adesanya

The value of the Naira crashed to its lowest level in weeks to N1,550.74/$1 in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Thursday, April 4, as wider tariffs instituted by the United States took its toll on it.

At the currency market yesterday, the exchange rate of the Nigerian currency to its American counterpart depreciated by 1.25 per cent or N19.11. On Wednesday, the price was N1,531.63/1$.

The US President, Mr Donald Trump, unveiled sweeping reciprocal tariffs on Wednesday, announcing baseline 10 per cent duties on imports from all trading partners, and much higher rates for some nations.

Nigeria, a trading partner, was hit with a 27 per cent import tariff and a 14 per cent reciprocal tariff.

According to African Export and Import Bank (Afreximbank), the move will likely affect the country’s FX earnings as it could trigger a weakness in oil demand.

At the spot market, the local currency tumbled against the Pound Sterling yesterday by N60.63 to sell for N2,043.29/£1 compared with the preceding day’s N1,982.66/£1 and against the Euro, it lost N65.42 to finish at N1,722.38/€1 versus N1,656.96/€1.

At the black market, the domestic currency slumped against the greenback during the trading day by N5 to sell for N1,560/$1, in contrast to midweek’s rate of N1,555/$1.

As for the cryptocurrency market, it remained bearish as traders worried about the risk associated with President Donald Trump’s 10 per cent baseline levy on all imports to the country.

Solana (SOL) dropped 1.9 per cent to sell at $116.39, Binance Coin (BNB) depreciated by 1.8 per cent to $595.28, Ethereum (ETH) dwindled by 1.2 per cent to $1,801.26, Dogecoin (DOGE) fell by 0.6 per cent to $0.1642, and Bitcoin (BTC) went down by 0.2 per cent to $83,069.98.

However, Cardano jumped by 0.7 per cent to $0.6531, Ripple (XRP) increased its value by 0.7 per cent to $2.05, and Litecoin (LTC) soared by 0.3 per cent to $83.78, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.

By Dipo Olowookere

The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited ended with 20 price gainers and 32 price losers on Thursday, indicating a negative market breadth index and weak investor sentiment.

This happened as Customs Street witnessed continued selling pressure in most of the sectors during the trading session.

Data showed that only the insurance counter closed higher yesterday, rising by 1.70 per cent at the close of trading activities.

The consumer goods space went down by 0.66 per cent, the banking industry depleted by 0.36 per cent, the energy index crashed by 0.19 per cent, and the industrial goods sector tumbled by 0.02, while the commodity counter closed flat.

As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) decreased by 0.02 per cent or 21.90 points to 105,525.26 points from 105,547.16 points and the market capitalisation reduced by 0.05 per cent or N31 billion to N66.155 trillion from N66.186 trillion.

Livestock Feeds lost 10.00 per cent yesterday to settle at N7.20, PZ Cussons declined by 9.97 per cent to N33.40, Mutual Benefits shed 9.35 per cent to close at 97 Kobo, UAC Nigeria retreated by 9.23 per cent to N29.00, and Secure Electronic Technology slumped by 9.09 per cent to 50 Kobo.

Conversely, Africa Prudential gained 9.76 per cent to quote at N15.75, Guinea Insurance expanded by 9.52 per cent to 69 Kobo, DAAR Communications grew by 8.33 per cent to 65 Kobo, AXA Mansard rose by 7.87 per cent to N9.60, and RT Briscoe climbed higher by 7.14 per cent to N2.40.

Business Post reports that 397.1 million stocks valued at N8.7 billion exchanged hands in 13,667 deals on Thursday versus the 438.1 million stocks worth N12.0 billion transacted at midweek in 17,286 deals, showing a shortfall in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 9.36 per cent, 27.50 per cent, and 20.94 per cent apiece.

Universal Insurance topped the activity chart with 49.8 million shares valued at N29.2 million, Zenith Bank traded 34.9 million equities worth N1.6 billion, Royal Exchange sold 33.9 million stocks for N33.9 million, UBA transacted 33.9 million equities worth N1.3 billion, and Fidelity Bank exchanged 30.5 million shares valued at N584.6 million.