Economy
Stocks Further Shed 0.17% as Investors Lose Confidence in CBN FX Policy
By Dipo Olowookere
Nigerian stocks received further beatings on Tuesday as investors began to lose confidence in the foreign exchange (FX) policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
On Monday, the acting CBN Governor, Mr Folashodun Shonubi, after a meeting with President Bola Tinubu at the State House in Abuja, said plans are being made to stabilise the Naira, warning that speculators will soon regret selling their local currency assets for Dollars.
He said this after the audit accounts of the apex bank for the 2022 fiscal year showed that what is left in the external reserves, about $20 billion, may not be enough to defend the Nigerian currency, triggering fears among some investors.
At the market yesterday, traders offloaded some of their equities, apparently in panic so as not to be caught off-guard. Some of them are selling to buy forex to edge their funds against Naira.
Business Post observed that apart from the insurance counter, which appreciated by 1.32 per cent, every other sector finished lower at the close of transactions.
The consumer goods space lost 0.68 per cent, the energy index depreciated by 0.40 per cent, the banking sector went down by 0.08 per cent, and the industrial goods counter finished lower by 0.06 per cent.
As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) decreased by 107.39 points to 64,928.98 points from 65,036.37 points, and the market capitalisation moderated by N58 billion to N35.357 trillion from N35.415 trillion.
Eterna ended the trading session as the heaviest price loser as it shed 9.86 per cent to trade at N16.00, Sunu Assurance trended downward by 9.62 per cent to 94 Kobo, Omatek declined by 8.11 per cent to 34 Kobo, Unilever Nigeria slumped by 7.05 per cent to N14.50, and AIICO Insurance dropped 5.63 per cent to sell at 67 Kobo.
The biggest price gainer was Tantalizers as it improved by 10.00 per cent to 44 Kobo, Ikeja Hotel grew by 9.82 per cent to N3.13, Cornerstone Insurance expanded by 9.30 per cent to N1.41, The Initiates appreciated by 8.82 per cent to N1.11, and Linkage Assurance rose by 8.33 per cent to 91 Kobo.
At the close of business, there were 31 price losers and 19 price gainers, indicating a negative market breadth index and a weak investor sentiment.
Apart from the CBN policy, the market reacted to the inflation figures of July 2023 released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Tuesday.
The agency revealed that the average price of goods and services increased on a year-on-year basis by 24.08 per cent. In the previous month, inflation rose by 22.79 per cent.
This may have also put the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited under selling pressure yesterday, as the level of activity increased, with the trading volume, value, and the number of deals rising by 8.30 per cent, 11.91 per cent, and 6.73 per cent, respectively.
This was because the bourse recorded the sale of 280.5 million equities worth N4.7 billion in 6,296 deals compared with the 259.0 million equities worth N4.2 billion traded in 5,899 deals on Monday.
For another trading session, Transcorp was the most active after selling 36.5 million stocks valued at N147.5 million, followed by UBA, which sold 23.2 million shares for N325.4 million. Access Holdings transacted 17.7 million equities worth N299.4 million, Sterling Holdings exchanged 16.0 million shares worth N57.5 million, and Japaul traded 11.4 million stocks valued at N11.0 million.
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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