Economy
Index Drops 0.69% as Investors Trim Exposure to Conoil, BUA Foods Stocks
By Dipo Olowookere
In a bid to trim their exposure to the equity market and possibly diversify into other asset classes, investors on Thursday rebalanced their portfolios and sold off some of their holdings in Conoil, BUA Foods, GTCO, Oando, Airtel Africa, Zenith Bank and 16 others.
The hiking of the benchmark interest rate to 13.0 per cent by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recently and the disclosure on Wednesday by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) that inflation in May rose by 17.71 per cent have given investors an opportunity to review their investment strategy.
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited is on the hot seat for this and has struggled to replicate the positive momentum it recorded some weeks ago, especially at a time the main focus is now on political activities in the country ahead of the 2023 general elections.
Yesterday, the exchange further depreciated by 0.69 per cent for the third trading session on the back of sustained profit-taking. It has only managed a single upward movement in the last six trading days and four in the last 13 sessions.
The All Share Index (ASI), which measures the overall performance of the market, depreciated by 364.31 points to settle at 52,411.09 points compared with the previous day’s 52,775.40 points, while the market capitalisation decreased by N197 billion to close at N28.255 trillion versus Wednesday’s N28.452 trillion.
Business Post reports that the consumer goods counter closed higher by 0.01 per cent during the session, while the energy, banking, insurance and industrial goods sectors finished lower by 0.83 per cent, 0.62 per cent, 0.28 per cent and 0.01 per cent respectively.
A total of 211.6 million shares worth N2.4 billion exchanged hands in 4,750 deals on Thursday as against the 188.1 million shares worth N2.4 billion traded in 4,890 deals at the midweek session. This indicated that while the number of deals reduced by 2.86 per cent, the volume of trades increased by 12.51 per cent and the value of transactions remained unchanged.
Sterling Bank sold 63.7 million stocks valued at N97.5 million, Zenith Bank transacted 17.3 million shares worth N382.6 million, UBA traded 17.3 million equities for N131.9 million, Transcorp exchanged 16.2 million shares for N21.0 million, while FBN Holdings sold 10.3 million equities worth N101.0 million.
On the price movement index, Conoil was the worst-performing stock as it dropped 10.00 per cent to settle at N28.80, BUA Foods declined by 9.97 per cent to N53.75, eTranzact depleted by 9.96 per cent to N2.44, CWG fell by 9.62 per cent to 94 kobo, while Eterna went down by 6.25 per cent to N7.50.
On the flip side, Linkage Assurance finished the day as the best performer as it gained 9.80 per cent to quote at 56 kobo, Courteville rose by 8.00 per cent to 54 kobo, Japaul appreciated by 6.90 per cent to 31 kobo, Chams chalked up 4.17 per cent to sell at 25 kobo, while UPDC grew by 4.08 per cent to N1.02.
Economy
BNB Price Reflects Changing Dynamics in the Digital Asset Market
Economy
NASD Unlisted Security Index Crosses 4,000-point Benchmark Again
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange achieved a milestone on Friday, April 24, 2026, after five securities on the platform helped with a 1.85 per cent growth.
Data showed that the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) again crossed the 4,000-point benchmark yesterday.
The index chalked up 73.64 points during the trading day to close at 4,052.59 points compared with the preceding session’s 3,978.95 points, while the market capitalisation added N5.38 billion to finish at N2.424 trillion versus Thursday’s closing value of N2.380 trillion.
The price gainers were led by Okitipupa Plc, which grew by N25.00 to sell at N305.00 per share compared with the previous price of N280.00 per share. Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc gained N6.92 to close at N76.26 per unit versus N69.34 per unit, Afriland Properties Plc appreciated by N1.00 to N17.00 per share from N18.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc improved by 55 Kobo to N99.55 per unit from N99.00 per unit, and Food Concepts Plc increased by 5 Kobo to N2.70 per share from N2.65 per share.
However, there was a price loser, MRS Oil, which dipped by N21.75 to N195.75 per unit from N217.50 per unit.
During the final session of the week, the value of securities jumped 75.2 per cent to N41.3 million from N23.6 million units, and the number of deals expanded by 62.9 per cent to 44 deals from 27 deals, while the volume of securities declined marginally by 0.9 per cent to 447,403 units from 451,522 units.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc was the most traded stock by volume (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, trailed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units traded for N1.2 billion.
GNI was also the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 59.6 million units transacted for N4.0 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.8 million units exchanged for N1.9 billion.
Economy
Naira Slips to N1,358/$1 as FX Reserves, Policy Uncertainty Concerns
By Adedapo Adesanya
It was not a good day for the Nigerian Naira in the currency market on Friday, April 24, as its value depreciated against the major foreign currencies at the close of transactions.
In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX), it lost N4.53 or 0.33 per cent against the United States Dollar yesterday to trade at N1,358.44/$1, in contrast to the N1,353.91/$1 it was exchanged on Thursday.
Equally, the domestic currency slipped against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N8.14 to close at N1,834.02/£1, compared with the previous rate of N1,825.88/£1 and dropped N8.01 against the Euro to sell at N1,590.73/€1 versus N1,582.72/€1.
Also, the Naira depreciated against the US Dollar at the GTBank FX desk on Friday by N4 to quote at N1,370/$1 compared with the previous session’s N1,366/$1, and at the parallel market, it depleted by N5 to settle at N1,380/$1 versus the preceding day’s N1,375/$1.
Data published by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) indicated that NFEM interbank turnover surged to N43.562 million across 68 deals, up from N28.117 million the previous day.
Despite the CBN’s reassurance that the recent drop in external reserves is not worrisome, the market remains unsettled by persistent concerns over liquidity constraints, policy transparency, and weakening confidence in Nigeria’s FX market as gross reserves continue to decline to $48.4 billion.
The outlook for the Dollar appears supported by broader macro risks, including elevated oil prices tied to the tanker traffic disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and a continued US-Iran standoff over ceasefire negotiations.
A look at the digital currency market showed that investors are sitting on the edge as the US Dollar rebounded amid geopolitical and inflation risks despite continued inflows into US spot bitcoin Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).
Solana (SOL) rose by 1.2 per cent to sell $86.45, Cardano (ADA) appreciated by 1.1 per cent to $0.2517, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 0.9 per cent to $0.0989, Ripple (XRP) improved by 0.3 per cent to $1.43, Ethereum (ETH) soared by 0.2 per cent to $2,316.83, and Binance Coin (BNB) chalked up 0.1 per cent to sell for $637.44.
However, TRON (TRX) depreciated by 1.3 per cent to $0.3235, and Bitcoin (BTC) lost 0.2 per cent to close at $77,562.27, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.
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