Economy
Technology: Making Investors Smarter Amidst Economic Uncertainty
By Ikponmwosa Amadasun
Modern technological advancements continue to cause disruptions in our world, impacting nearly all areas of endeavour as we discover diverse use cases. Just like every other aspect of life, the role of technology in investing cannot be over-emphasized.
Within the financial services industry, derivative innovation has led to an explosion of online or digital offerings. We now have the tools to optimize service efficiency, minimize costs, enable faster transactions, and real-time access monitoring and security features. This improved capacity has ensured a greater competitive advantage by serving as a foundation for smarter investment decisions.
The adoption of smart technologies has continued to simplify processes whilst also helping wealth managers take better-calculated investment risks. Gone are the days when capital market participants were subjected to hectic and time-consuming processes to consummate transactions due to the presence of intermediaries.
With decreasing intermediation, there has also been a significant decline in issues associated with manual records, audits, and verification. Furthermore, reporting is now much more streamlined, given the increasing sophistication of analytics tools that allow for faster and better-protected decision-making.
For CardinalStone Securities, especially in these times of greater economic volatility, the consistent use of best-in-class technologies powers the financial decisions it makes on behalf of clients.
Elile Olutimayin, Managing Director at the firm, holds a strong belief in this progressive approach: “The parade of new technologies and scientific breakthroughs is relentless and is unfolding on many fronts. We are not ignorant of these advancements, and we constantly upskill ourselves with the requisite knowledge to adapt to changing realities.
At CardinalStone, we continue to leverage smart platforms like Bloomberg Intelligence and the NGX X-Gen Software to execute clients’ trades.
Especially at a time of economic uncertainties when investors’ priority is to both build and protect their wealth, these technologies have to be reliable; providing us with a tick-by-tick live feed throughout the trading day, needed to make great investment decisions for all our clients spread across the world.”
Beyond the varied benefits to corporates, technology is also helping individuals become smarter investors. With increasing digital penetration rates, web apps have transformed the retail trading experience and vastly reduced the need for intermediaries.
In recognition of this trend, CardinalStone recently upgraded its web application and portal, an all-purpose digital investment and trading platform that empowers clients with the real-time capability to access and manage held investments across all our business subsidiaries. The platform is expected to enhance positioning and improve decision-making as we navigate through these unprecedented times in the global economy.
Perhaps CardinalStone’s evident affinity for technology is one of the drivers of its record-setting achievements, which is solely executing the Union Bank acquisition, the largest transaction ever in the history of the Nigerian Stock Exchange. Undoubtedly, the capital market has become more agile, with CardinalStone setting the pace.
Ikponmwosa Amadasun is an Associate, Securities Trading at CardinalStone Securities
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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