Economy
Renewed Investor Confidence Triggers N70bn Profit on Stocks
By Dipo Olowookere
After days of panic trading as a result of unrest in some parts of the country, which necessitated the declaration of curfew in Lagos and other states, investors are beginning to show strong confidence in the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
On Friday, the last trading day of the week, investors embarked on bargain hunting, mopping up some stocks especially in the banking sector they believe could give good yields in the coming days.
Already, the investment community is awaiting the release of third quarter earnings of most companies on the exchange and the few ones released so far have shown what should be expected.
In order to benefit from the possible rise in the prices of value stocks at the market, smart investors are already taking a position and at the close of transactions today, the bourse appreciated by 0.47 per cent.
This boosted the All-Share Index (ASI) by 133.19 points to 28,697.06 points from 28,563.87 points and raised the market capitalisation by N70 billion to N15.000 trillion from N14.930 trillion.
Business Post reports that four of the major sub-sectors tracked during the session appreciated as only the insurance index closed negative by 0.12 per cent.
The banking space grew by 1.69 per cent, the industrial goods sector appreciated by 0.46 per cent, the consumer goods counter gained 0.29 per cent and the energy space increased by 0.03 per cent.
The market breadth closed positive today with 20 price gainers and six price losers and this showed a positive investor sentiment.
NASCON was the highest price gainer as its share price rose by N1.30 to settle at N14.30 per unit, while Dangote Cement gained N1 to finish at N151 per share.
GTBank appreciated by 45 kobo to sell for N30.45 per unit, Zenith Bank improved by 35 kobo to close at N21 per share, while PZ Cussons gained 30 kobo to quote at N4.40 per unit.
The heaviest price loser of the day was Northern Nigerian Flour Mills as the company’s stock depreciated by 46 kobo to settle at N4.19 per share.
Vitafoam went down by 20 kobo to N6 per unit, NPF Microfinance Bank depreciated by 6 kobo to N1.34 per unit, Honeywell Flour slumped by 4 kobo to 91 kobo per unit, while Union Diagnostic declined by one kobo to sell at 26 kobo per share.
The level of activity further declined on Friday as the trading volume, value and number of deals went down by 9.11 per cent, 5.64 per cent and 12.83 per cent respectively.
This was because the trading volume dropped to 283.0 million units from 311.3 million units, the trading value reduced to N4.4 billion from N4.7 billion, while the number of deals slipped to 2,942 from 3,375 at the close of trading activities.
Banking stocks continued to dominate the activity chart, while Access Bank was the most traded equity after transacting 80.5 million units valued at N622.9 million.
GTBank traded 76.5 million shares worth N2.3 billion, UBA exchanged 24.9 million equities for N174.4 million, FBN Holdings traded 24.4 million stocks worth N149.2 million, while Zenith Bank transacted 19.6 million shares valued at N409.3 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The value of the Naira to the US Dollar further weakened in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Thursday, December 18 amid renewed forex demand pressure.
Data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) showed that the Nigerian currency lost N2.35 or 0.16 per cent on the greenback to close at N1,457.84/$1 compared with the preceding session’s N1,455.49/$1.
The local currency also moved in the same direction against the Pound Sterling and the Euro in the same market window during the trading session.
It weakened against the British currency by N14.80 to sell for N1,958.03/£1 compared with Wednesday’s closing price of N1,943.28/£1 and tumbled against the European nation’s currency by N5.66 to quote at N1,712.38/€1 versus N1,706.72/€1.
A further N2 was lost by the Naira against the Dollar at the GTBank FX counter yesterday, closing at N1,465/$1 versus the N1,463/$1 it was traded a day earlier, while at the black market, it remained unchanged at N1,475/$1.
FX supply from the central bank, exporters, foreign portfolio investors and non-bank corporate channels remained insufficient to redirect the exchange rate.
Expectations of inflows from Detty December to alleviate need for FX demand have not materialised, as exorbitant local prices seems to be keeping spending at bay.
Despite the depreciation, the Naira outlook remains stable around the trading range even though the local currency has continued to give up early gain.
Meanwhile, the crypto market was down on Thursday due to profit-taking, with about $550 million in liquidations over the past 24 hours on derivatives markets, CoinGlass data shows, flushing out both short and long leveraged trading positions.
Cardano (ADA) gave up 4.3 per cent to sell for $0.35o6, Dogecoin (DOGE) lost 3.9 per cent to trade at $0.1220, Ripple (XRP) depreciated by 3.5 per cent to $1.79, and Solana (SOL) recorded a decline of 3.2 per cent to finish at $119.39.
In addition, Litecoin (LTC) slumped by 2.4 per cent to $74.13, Binance Coin (BNB) fell by 1.5 per cent to $830.55, Bitcoin (BTC) shrank by 0.8 per cent to $85,397.31, and Ethereum (ETH) went down by 0.3 per cent to $2,823.50, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil prices edged marginally higher on Thursday as investors assessed the likelihood of further US sanctions against Russia and the supply risks posed by a blockade of Venezuelan oil tankers.
Brent crude was up 36 cents or 0.6 per cent to $60.04 per barrel and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude climbed 52 cents or 0.9 per cent to $56.46 per barrel.
Market analysts noted that crude futures are trying to find support from the Venezuelan oil export blockade, which if it continues will likely cause production in the area to be shut in with no destinations to ship out to.
According to the sources, the biggest oil storage hub and tankers at Venezuelan ports could fill up within 10 days, prompting production curbs.
Earlier this week, Reuters reported that some 11 million barrels of Venezuelan crude were stuck at sea amid the US escalation, prompting deeper discounts and demands from buyers for changes in the spot contracts, under which the oil was being sold.
The Venezuela blockade could affect 600,000 barrels per day of Venezuelan oil exports, mostly to China, but 160,000 barrels per day of exports to the US would likely continue, ING said. Venezuelan crude makes up around 1 per cent of global supplies.
Meanwhile, the US is preparing another round of sanctions on Russia’s energy sector in the event it does not agree to a peace deal with Ukraine.
Britain imposed sanctions on 24 individuals and entities as part of its Russia sanctions regime, including on Russian oil companies Tatneft and Russneft, a government notice showed on Thursday.
Further measures targeting Russian oil could pose a greater supply risk to the market than President Donald Trump’s announcement on Tuesday that the US would blockade tankers under sanctions entering and leaving Venezuela, ING analysts said in a note.
Oil prices will remain under pressure next year amid persistent concerns about a large oil glut in early 2026.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Managing Director of Lekki Port LFTZ Enterprise Limited, Mr Wang Qiang, says the port has reached half of its designed operational capacity, with steady growth in container throughput since September 2025, reflecting increasing confidence by shipping lines and cargo owners in Nigeria’s first deep seaport.
“We already reached 50 per cent of our capacity now, almost 50 per cent of the port capacity.
“There is consistent improvement in the number of 20ft equivalent units (TEUs) handled monthly,” he said.
Mr Qiang explained further that efficient multimodal connectivity remains critical to sustaining and accelerating growth at the port.
According to him, barge operations have become an important evacuation channel and currently account for about 10 per cent of cargo movement from the port.
Mr Qiang mentioned that the ongoing Lagos–Calabar Coastal Road project would help ease congestion and improve access to the port.
He said that rail connectivity remained essential, particularly given the scale of industrial activities emerging within the Lekki corridor.
He said that Nigeria Government was concerned about the cargoes moving through rail and that the development would enhance more cargoes distribution outside the port.
Mr Qiang reiterated that Lekki port was a fully automated terminal, noting that delays may persist until all stakeholders, including government agencies, fully aligned with end-to-end digital processes.
He explained that customs procedures, particularly physical cargo examinations, and other port services should be fully digitalised to significantly reduce cargo dwell time.
“We must work together very closely with customers and all categories of operations for automation to yield results.
“Integration between the customs system, the terminal operating system and customers is already part of an agreed implementation schedule.
“For automation to work efficiently, all players must be ready — customers, government and every stakeholder. Only then can we have a fantastic system,” Mr Qiang said.
He also stressed that improved connectivity would allow the port to effectively double capacity through performance optimisation without expanding its physical footprint.
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