By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange depreciated by 0.02 per cent on Wednesday, January 8 following mild profit-taking by market participants, who showed a sign of panic trading.

This resulted in a marginal decline in the market capitalisation by N560 million to N1.056 trillion, the same value of the preceding trading session, as the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) slid by 0.18 points to wrap the session at 3,081.91 points compared with 3,082.47 points recorded at the previous session.

Business Post reports that Geo-Fluids Plc suffered a decline of 4 Kobo at midweek to sell at N4.85 per share versus the previous session’s N4.89 per share, and Afriland Properties Plc lost 12 Kobo to close at N16.00 per unit, in contrast to Tuesday’s closing price of N16.12 per unit.

However, the price of First Trust Microfinance Bank Plc increased by 3 Kobo yesterday to settle at 37 Kobo per share compared with the previous day’s value of 34 Kobo per share.

There was a 5,943.8 per cent surge in the volume of securities traded in the session as investors exchanged 3.6 million units compared to 59,432 units traded in the preceding session and the value of shares traded yesterday increased by 1,641.7 per cent to N36.6 million from the N2.1 million achieved a day earlier, while the number of deals carried out went up by 133.3 per cent to 14 deals from six deals.

At the close of transactions, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc was the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 1.9 million units valued at N74.2 million, followed by 11 Plc with 12,963 units worth N3.2 million, and Industrial and General Insurance  (IGI )Plc with 10.7 million units sold for N2.1 million.

But the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) was IGI Plc with 10.6 million units worth N2.1 million, trailed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 1.9 million units sold for N74.2 million, and Acorn Petroleum Plc followed with 1.2 million units valued at N1.9 million.

By Adedapo Adesanya

The exchange rate of the Naira against the United States Dollar moved in different directions in the various segments of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Wednesday, January 8.

In the parallel market, the Nigerian currency appreciated against its American counterpart by N5 during the session to settle at N1,650/$1, in contrast to Tuesday’s closing value of N1,650/$1 after trading flat for over two sessions.

However, the local currency was not too lucky in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) segment as its value depreciated against the greenback at midweek by N4.67 or 0.3 per cent to quote at N1,541.70/$1 versus the preceding day’s N1,537.03/$1.

Business Post observed that it was the third straight session the domestic currency was losing value in the currency market this week.

Available data showed that the aggregate FX inflows into Nigeria increased by 41 per cent in the first 10 months of 2024 to $79.8 billion from $55.6 billion in the same period of 2023, as per the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through its Economic Report for October 2024.

The apex bank disclosed that in the period under consideration, the nation recorded a 1.4 per cent decline in aggregated FX outflows to $29.84 billion from the $30.29 billion posted in the first 10 months of 2023.

In the same official market, the Naira, however, appreciated against the Pound Sterling yesterday by N24.53 to sell for N1,899.62/£1 compared with the preceding session’s N1,924.15/£1 and against the Euro, it gained N10.11 to trade at N1,584.96/€1 versus Tuesday’s price of N1,595.07/€1.

As for the cryptocurrency market, it was bearish as macro jitters and the global bond rout accelerated the sell-off in crypto prices.

Strong US economic data, surging bond yields, and concerns about inflation and a hawkish Federal Reserve drove the risk-off sentiment, worsened by uncertainty around President-elect Donald Trump’s tariff policies.

Cardano (ADA) fell by 5.9 per cent to $0.9341, Dogecoin (DOGE) depreciated by 3.0 per cent to $0.3389, Bitcoin (BTC) slumped by 2.0 per cent to $94,540.80, Solana (SOL) depreciated by 1.2 per cent to $194.16, Litecoin (LTC) dropped 1.1 per cent to $101.99, and Ethereum (ETH) waned by 0.6 per cent to $3,329.38.

On the flip side, Ripple (XRP) added 1.7 per cent to close at $2.35, and Binance Coin (BNB) rose by 0.9 per cent to $698.63, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 apiece.

By Adedapo Adesanya

The prices of the crude oil grades went down on Wednesday as the US Dollar strengthened but continued to find support from a tightening of supplies from Russia and other members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

Fears of renewed inflationary pressure in the US, the world’s largest economy, grew leading to a stronger US Dollar, with Brent shedding 32 cents or 0.42 per cent to trade at $77.37 per barrel and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) losing 47 cents or 0.63 per cent to settle at $74.72 per barrel.

A stronger Dollar makes oil more expensive for holders of other currencies, weakening prices.

According to a Reuters survey, oil output from OPEC fell in December after two months of increases with field maintenance in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) offset a Nigerian output hike and gains elsewhere in the group.

Nigeria recorded a 50,000 barrels per day gain, bringing Africa’s largest oil producer daily average to 1.5 million barrels per day.

In Russia, oil output averaged 8.971 million barrels a day in December, below the country’s target.

There was a drop in US crude stocks as the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported an estimated inventory draw of 1 million barrels for the first week of 2025.

The authority also estimated builds in fuel inventories but both gasoline and diesel stocks remain below the five-year average.

The crude inventory draw compared with another modest of 1.2 million barrels for the last week of 2024, which was accompanied by substantial builds in gasoline (petrol) and middle distillates that failed to elicit a bearish response from the market at the time.

This is after the American Petroleum Institute (API) inventory reported crude oil stocks shed a sizable 4 million barrels in the first week of January. The API also estimated another round of hefty inventory builds in fuels.

Analysts expect oil prices to be on average down this year from 2024 due in part to production increases from non-OPEC countries.

Market analysts note that the market remains driven by expectations of this tighter global supply situation after US President-elect Mr Donald Trump takes office on January 20.