Economy
Stocks Shed N98bn as Risk-off Sentiments Sway Market
By Dipo Olowookere
The nation’s equity market further depreciated on Thursday as risk-off sentiments continue to sway the movement of the exchange as investors trim their portfolios to reduce their exposure.
Yesterday, sell-offs in Dangote Cement and 20 other stocks ensured that the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited closed lower by 0.49 per cent as the market await a positive trigger that will bring back the bulls.
Business Post reports that apart from the consumer goods index, which closed 0.13 per cent higher, every other sector closed bearish, with the energy losing 1.11 per cent.
The industrial goods counter depreciated by 1.07 per cent, the banking space declined by 0.36 per cent, while the insurance index went down by 0.25 per cent.
By the time the market was closed for the day, the All-Share Index (ASI) was down by 189.10 points to 38,044.58 points from 38,233.68 points, while the market capitalisation was down by N98 billion to N19.830 trillion from N19.928 trillion.
The heaviest loss on Thursday was suffered by Sovereign Trust Insurance as its value went down by 10.00 per cent to 27 kobo.
ABC Transport depreciated by 8.11 per cent to 34 kobo, Academy Press lost 7.69 per cent to close at 36 kobo, Royal Exchange declined by 6.33 per cent to 74 kobo, while Coronation Insurance dropped 5.66 per cent to settle at 50 kobo.
On the flip side, Mutual Benefits Assurance led the group of 16 price gainers yesterday after its equity price rose by 7.32 per cent to 44 kobo.
Cutix gained 7.14 per cent to trade at N2.25, Regency Alliance Insurance improved by 7.14 per cent to 45 kobo, Consolidated Hallmark Insurance gained 6.35 per cent to sell for 67 kobo, while Champion Breweries appreciated by 6.00 per cent to N2.12.
The most traded stock of the day was Sovereign Trust Insurance as it sold 27.2 million stocks valued at N7.8 million and was trailed by Mutual Benefits Assurance, which traded 17.2 million equities worth N7.1 million.
UAC Nigeria transacted 15.7 million shares for N174.3 million, Transcorp exchanged 12.5 million stocks worth N10.8 million, while Sterling Bank traded 12.2 million equities valued at N20.1 million.
At the close of transactions, a total of 214.2 million shares worth N1.3 billion were traded in 3,565 deals in contrast to the 203.1 million stocks worth N1.8 billion transacted in 3,594 deals at the midweek session, signifying a 5.46 per cent rise in the trading volume, a 26.37 per cent decline in the trading value and a 0.81 per cent drop in the number of deals.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 0.36 per cent on Wednesday, August 19, slicing the market capitalisation of the platform by N9.41 billion to N2.60 trillion from N2.610 trillion, and reducing the NASD Security Index (NSI) by 15.67 points to 4,333.09 from 4,348.76 points.
The securities depository company lost N10.30 at midweek to close at N88.12 per share versus Tuesday’s closing price of N90.02 per share.
This offset the 38 Kobo gained by Golden Capital Plc during the session. The stock traded at N14.05 per unit compared with the preceding day’s N13.67 per unit.
Yesterday, the volume of securities soared by 557.2 per cent to 747,429 units from 113,728 units, the value of securities jumped by 934.0 per cent to N9.4 million from N375.7 million, and the number of deals increased by 35.5 per cent to 42 deals from 31 deals.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, trailed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units exchanged for N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 79.9 million units worth N5.8 billion.
GNI Plc also finished the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units transacted for N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units sold for N415.7 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira weakened by N7.09 or 0.53 per cent against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Wednesday, August 19, to N1,350.41/$1 from the previous rate of N1,343.32/$1.
The local currency also significantly depreciated against the Pound Sterling in the official market yesterday, by N19.87, to close at N1,839.13/£1 versus the previous day’s N1,819.26/£1, and against the Euro, it lost N18.07 to end at N1,574.31/€1 versus Tuesday’s price of N1,556.24/€1.
However, at the black market, the Naira maintained stability against the US Dollar at N1,390/$1, and also remained unchanged at the GTBank forex desk at N1,357/$1.
Interbank FX turnover increased by 1.72 per cent to $370.980 million from $364.709 million, according to the daily update by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
On the other hand, the number of interbank FX deals declined to 100, from 108 the previous day, reflecting a moderate slowdown in activities.
Available data from the central bank showed that demand for FX by end-users in Nigeria fell by 35.23 per cent to $3.42 billion in April 2026, easing pressure on the Dollar market as the Naira recorded modest gains.
This occurred as FX utilisation across economic sectors declined during the month, while the Naira strengthened at the official market. Across several sectors, including oil, food, and manufacturing, there were drops.
The monthly average exchange rate improved 1.38 per cent to N1,361.22 per Dollar in April from N1,379.98/$1 in March. At the end of the review month, the domestic currency closed at N1,374.94 per Dollar at NAFEM, compared with N1,386.72/$1 at the end of March.
In the cryptocurrency market, coins recorded massive jumps following the US Treasury’s decision to at least double bond buyback operations and was reinforced by a bond-market surge and President Donald Trump’s call for Congress to advance crypto market-structure legislation.
The American President urged Congress to advance the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, calling for “a fair version” of the market structure bill that has been stuck in the Senate.
Ethereum (ETH) surged by 18.2 per cent to $2,261.93, Solana (SOL) rose by 11.4 per cent to $85.77, Ripple (XRP) expanded by 10.5 per cent to $1.10, Bitcoin (BTC) grew by 8.6 per cent to $69,784.82, Dogecoin (DOGE) added 7.3 per cent to sell at $0.0751, Cardano (ADA) rose by 4.8 per cent to $0.1842, Binance Coin (BNB) jumped by 4.5 per cent to $628.45, and TRON (TRX) increased by 0.1 per cent to $0.3330, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Those who purchased the N40 billion bond issued by Geregu Power Plc in 2022 but did not receive payments last month as expected have reportedly now been paid by the energy company.
Geregu Power, listed on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited, was in the news recently over the repayment default on July 28, 2026, triggering panic in the capital market.
Last week, the organisation admitted the issues caused by this default, but said, “Discussions and engagements are ongoing, and the company will continue to act in good faith in fulfilling its responsibilities.”
It further disclosed that “relevant stakeholders and advisers [are being actively engaged] regarding the resolution of the various challenges and is committed to achieving an orderly and mutually beneficial outcome.”
The latest information indicated that N6.03 billion owed investors under the firm’s N40.09 billion Series 1 Senior Unsecured Bond has been cleared.
This is expected to bring relief to investors, who may have feared the worst after the entity failed to meet its debt obligations when due.
However, on the FMDQ Securities Exchange, the status of the debt instrument remains as “credit default in the 8th coupon payment and 4th bullet principal repayment.”
As of the time of filing this report, Geregu Power has yet to confirm the clearing of the N6 billion debt.
