Economy
Equities Gain N128bn on NSE Conversion to Plc, Bargain Hunting
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) rebounded on Wednesday with a 0.63 per cent gain on the back of renewed bargain hunting by investors.
Also, news that the exchange has concluded its conversion into a public company excited investors yesterday as the shares of the regulator would now be available to the general public for trading.
At the close of transactions at the midweek session, the market capitalisation of the bourse grew by N128 billion to N20.369 trillion from N20.241 trillion.
Also, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 244.40 points to settle at 38,931.25 points in contrast to 38,686.85 points it closed the preceding session.
Business Post reports that the growth printed yesterday was quite significant to market participants as the exchange has witnessed series of losses in the past trading sessions and investors were yearning for the positive triggers that would soothe the pains.
It was not surprising when the market breadth closed at equilibrium on Wednesday as 23 stocks closed on the price gainers and losers charts apiece.
Morison Industries maintained its upward trajectory yesterday with a 9.72 per cent growth to close at 79 kobo and was trailed by Champion Breweries, which rose by 8.91 per cent to settle at N2.20.
Neimeth grew by 8.85 per cent to N2.09, Mutual Benefits Assurance appreciated by 7.69 per cent to 42 kobo, while NAHCO moved up by 6.64 per cent to N2.25.
On the losers’ table, Consolidated Hallmark Insurance was on top with a price depreciation of 10.00 per cent to sell for 27 kobo and was followed by Eterna, which lost 9.94 per cent to sell at N4.62.
Conoil depreciated by 9.79 per cent to N17.05, Northern Nigerian Flour Mills declined by 9.65 per cent to 55 kobo, while Livestock Feeds depreciated by 9.57 per cent to N1.70.
It was observed that the selloff in UBA shares continued yesterday after the company announced a final dividend of 35 kobo for the 2020 financial year. The lender was the most active at the exchange on Wednesday as it sold 74.8 million units of its stocks worth N523.4 million.
FBN Holding traded 65.4 million units valued at N467.8 million, GTBank exchanged 34.3 million equities for N1.1 billion, Sovereign Trust Insurance sold 34.2 million stocks worth N9.9 million, while Japaul transacted 15.5 million equities valued at N7.2 million.
At the close of business, a total of 368.2 million shares worth N4.9 billion were traded in 4,437 deals in contrast to the 490.0 million shares worth N6.7 billion traded in 4,616 deals on Tuesday, indicating a decline in the trading volume, value and number of deals by 24.85 per cent, 26.17 per cent and 3.88 per cent respectively.
At the market yesterday, the industrial goods, the consumer goods and the insurance sectors improved by 1.74 per cent, 0.40 per cent and 0.18 per cent respectively, while the banking and energy counters lost 0.35 per cent and 0.03 per cent correspondingly.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Energy stocks influenced the 4.76 per cent loss recorded by the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange on Friday, December 5.
The culprits were the duo of 11 Plc and Nipco Plc,with the former shedding N32.17 to end at N291.83 per share compared with the previous day’s N324.00 per share, and the latter down by N21.00 to sell at N195.00 per unit versus the previous session’s N216.00 per unit.
Consequently, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) slumped by 170.16 points to 3,401.37 points from 3,571.53 points and the market capitalisation lost N101.81 billion to close at N2.035 billion from the N2.136 trillion quoted in the preceding session.
The OTC securities exchange suffered the decline yesterday despite the share prices of three companies closing green.
Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc was up by N1.80 to close at N39.80 per share compared with Thursday’s price of N38.00 per share, Air Liquide Plc appreciated by N1.09 to N11.99 per unit from N10.90 per unit, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc grew by 78 Kobo to N56.57 per share from N55.79 per share.
During the session, the volume of transactions rose by 6,885.3 per cent to 18.2 million units from 4.3 million units, the value of transactions ballooned by 10,301.7 per cent to N389.7 million from N347.2 million, but the number of deals declined by 29.7 per cent to 26 deals from 37 deals.
Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit) Plc ended the day as the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units worth N16.4 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 170.4 million units valued at N8.0 billion, and Air Liquide Plc with 507.5 million units worth N4.2 billion.
InfraCredit Plc also finished the day as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units transacted for N16.4 billion, followed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 1.2 billion units sold for N420.2 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with 536.9 million units worth N524.9 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira depreciated further against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, December 5, as FX demand pressure mounts.
The Nigerian currency lost N2.60 or 0.18 per cent against the greenback to close at N1,450.43/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,447.83/$1.
Equally, the domestic currency declined against the Pound Sterling in the official forex market during the session by N4.48 to trade at N1,935.45/£1, in contrast to Thursday’s closing price of N1,930.97/£1 and shrank against the Euro by 43 Kobo to end at N1,689.17/€1 versus the preceding session’s rate of N1,688.74/€1.
Similarly, the local currency performed badly against the US Dollar at the GTBank FX counter by N2 to close at N1,455/$1 versus Thursday’s N1,453/$1 but traded flat at the parallel market at N14.65/$1.
As the country gets into the festive period, pressure mounted on the local currency reflecting higher foreign payments and lower FX inflows.
However, there are expectations that the Nigerian currency will be stable, supported by interventions by to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in the face of steady dollar Demand and inflows from Detty December festivities that will give the Naira a boost after it depreciated mildly last month.
Traders cited by Reuters expect that the Naira will trade within a band of N1,443-N1,450/$1 next week, buoyed by improved FX interventions by the apex bank.
As for the crypto market, it was down yesterday due to profit-taking associated with year-end trading. However, the December 1-Year Consumer Inflation Expectation by the University of Michigan fell to 4.1 per cent from 4.5 per cent previously and 4.5 per cent expected. The 5-Year Consumer Inflation Expectation fell to 3.2 per cent from 3.4 per cent previously and 3.4 per cent expected.
With the dearth of official economic data of late, these private surveys have taken on a new level of significance and the market banks of them to make decisions.
Cardano (ADA) depreciated by 5.7 per cent to $0.4142, Dogecoin (DOGE) slid by 5.1 per cent to $0.1394, Ethereum (ETH) dropped by 3.9 per cent to $3,039.75, Solana (SOL) declined by 3.8 per cent to $133.24, and Litecoin (LTC) fell by 3.7 per cent to $80.59.
Further, Bitcoin (BTC) went down by 2.6 per cent to sell at $89,683.72, Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 2.2 per cent to $883.59, and Ripple (XRP) shrank by 2.1 per cent to $2.04, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The oil market was up on Friday on increasing expectations the US Federal Reserve will cut interest rates next week, which could boost economic growth and energy demand.
Brent futures rose by 49 cents or 0.8 per cent to $63.75 per barrel and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures expanded by 41 cents or 0.7 per cent to $60.08 per barrel.
Investors digested a US inflation report and recalibrated expectations for the Federal Reserve to reduce rates at its December 9-10 meeting.
US consumer spending increased moderately in September after three straight months of solid gains, suggesting a loss of momentum in the economy at the end of the third quarter as a lackluster labor market and the rising cost of living curbed demand.
Traders have been pricing in an 87 per cent chance that the US central bank will lower borrowing costs by 25 basis points next week, according to CME Group’s FedWatch Tool.
Investors also focused on news from Russia and Venezuela to determine whether oil supplies from the two sanctioned members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies (OPEC+) will increase or decrease in the future.
The failure of US talks in Moscow to achieve any significant breakthrough over the war in Ukraine has helped to boost oil prices so far this week.
A loss of Venezuelan oil production in case of a US military intervention will materially impact global benchmark prices as the market will have to replace Venezuela’s heavy crude.
Venezuela is estimated to pump about 1.1 million barrels per day of crude oil at present, so if the US-Venezuela tension escalation into an invasion in the South American country, this volume of crude would be at risk.
Reuters reported that the Group of Seven countries and the European Union are in talks to replace a price cap on Russian oil exports with a full maritime services ban in a bid to reduce the oil revenue that helps finance Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Any deal that could lift sanctions on Russia, the world’s second-biggest crude producer after the US, could increase the amount of oil available to global markets, weakening prices.
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