Economy
Weekly Investment in Stocks Drops as Investors Monitor Environment
By Dipo Olowookere
The decision of politicians to stir up the race to Aso Rock in 2023 very earlier in 2022 is already taking its toll on the stock market in Nigeria.
Last week, former Governor of Lagos State and National Leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Mr Bola Tinubu, declared his interest to President Muhammadu Buhari to contest the nation’s highest political position next year.
After his open declaration at the Presidential Villa, others started to announce their interest in the same position and the race started to get interesting with some parts of the country rooting for Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who is believed to be the political godson of Mr Tinubu.
For investors in the capital market, they never expected this to occupy the ecosystem in the first month of 2022. They had thought the race to Aso Rock would get heated up by the second or third quarter of the year.
With the development, some of them had to trade cautiously and this may have caused the decline in the weekly investment in stocks last week.
According to data obtained by Business Post, a total of 1.6 billion shares worth N32.7 billion were traded in 22,607 deals as against the 2.0 billion shares worth N59.0 billion transacted in 15,750 deals in the first week of the year, which only had four trading sessions.
A breakdown showed that financial stocks dominated the activity chart in the week with 731.3 million units valued at 6.5 billion traded in 10,822 deals, contributing 45.71 per cent and 19.92 per cent to the total trading volume and value respectively.
Conglomerate equities trailed with 403.7 million units worth N452.9 million in 1,537 deals, while consumer shares exchanged 314.8 million units worth N17.8 billion in 4,101 deals.
Transcorp, BUA Foods and Jaiz Bank were the most active stocks in the five-day trading week, with the sale of 775.7 million units valued at N16.6 billion executed in 2,644 deals, accounting for 48.49 per cent and 50.82 per cent of the total trading volume and value respectively.
A total of 33 equities appreciated in price during the week, lower than 40 equities in the previous week, while 35 equities depreciated in price, higher than 31 equities in the previous week, with 88 equities closing flat, lower than 84 equities recorded in the previous week.
Analysis indicated that BUA Foods was the biggest price riser as its value went up by 24.06 per cent to N66.00, followed by Transcorp, which gained 16.33 per cent to trade at N1.14.
Jaiz Bank grew by 15.25 per cent week-on-week to sell for 68 kobo, Fidson appreciated by 13.64 per cent to quote at N7.50, while Academy Press improved by 10.00 per cent to trade at 66 kobo.
On the reverse side, Sunu Assurances ended the week as the heaviest price loser after its equity price went down by 16.22 per cent to close at 31 kobo.
Mutual Benefits fell by 12.90 per cent to 27 kobo, Berger Paints dropped 9.94 per cent to N7.70, Northern Nigerian Flour Mills depreciated by 9.66 per cent to N6.55, while Custodian Investment decreased by 9.49 per cent to N7.15.
Despite the low trades, the All-Share Index and market capitalisation of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited appreciated by 1.37 per cent week-on-week to 44,454.67 points and N23.951 trillion respectively.
Similarly, all other indices finished higher with the exception of NGX CG, insurance, NGX AFR Bank Value, consumer goods and Lotus II indices, which depreciated by 0.79 per cent, 1.54 per cent, 0.07 per cent, 4.35 per cent and 1.34 per cent respectively, while the ASem, NGX Growth I and sovereign bond indices closed flat.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Five securities pulled down the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.72 per cent on Friday, August 14, cutting the market capitalisation by N47.04 billion to N2.689 trillion from N2.727 trillion, and slicing the NASD Security Index (NSI) by 78.37 points to 4,465.83 from 4,532.03 points.
11 Plc led the price decliners yesterday after its price went down by N15.03 to N230.00 per share from N245.03 per share. MRS Oil Plc weakened by N13.20 to N118.80 per unit from N132.00 per unit, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc slid by N10.30 to N99.46 per share from N109.76 per share, Okitipupa Plc fell by N6.99 to N270.01 per unit from N277.00 per unit, and Afriland Properties Plc dipped by N2.00 to N20.00 per share from N22.00 per share.
Business Post reports that the OTC securities exchange recorded four gainers during the session, led by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, which appreciated by N9.85 to N169.85 per unit from N160.00 per unit. IPWA Plc gained 70 Kobo to close at N10.41 per share versus N9.71 per share, Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc rose by 4 Kobo to 54 Kobo per unit from 50 Kobo per unit, and Geo-Fluids Plc improved by 1 Kobo to N2.06 per share from N2.05 per share.
The volume of trades soared by 64.8 per cent to 3.2 million units from the previous session’s 1.9 million units, the value of transactions jumped by 78.2 per cent to N375.7 million from N210.8 million, and the number of deals surged by 35.3 per cent to 46 deals from 34 deals.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc was the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 79.0 million units exchanged for N5.7 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the day as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units transacted for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units traded for N415.7 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
The dominance of the bears on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited was consolidated on Friday, after further inflicting an 0.12 per cent loss at the close of trading activity.
All the key sectors of the local stock market turned red yesterday as a result of sustained profit-taking, though the industrial goods space was flat.
The insurance counter lost 1.49 per cent, the energy index shed 0.63 per cent, the consumer goods segment declined by 0.46 per cent, and the banking sector tumbled by 0.23 per cent.
Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) retreated by 398.18 points to 242,619.20 points from 243,017.38 points, and the market capitalisation receded by N257 billion to N156.624 trillion from N156.881 trillion.
Fortis Global Insurance lost 9.31 per cent to trade at N2.63, Omatek depreciated by 9.04 per cent to N1.51, John Holt slipped by 9.00 per cent to N9.10, RT Briscoe slumped by 7.94 per cent to N11.60, and Dangote Sugar went down by 7.79 per cent to N64.55.
But International Energy Insurance gained 9.92 per cent to sell for N5.32, Trans-Nationwide Express appreciated by 9.65 per cent to N2.84, Guinea Insurance improved by 6.67 per cent to 80 Kobo, Regency Alliance grew by 6.25 per cent to 85 Kobo, and Japaul jumped by 5.36 per cent to N2.95.
The market breadth index remained negative, with 30 price losers and 21 price gainers, indicating weak investor sentiment.
The level of activity contracted yesterday, with the trading volume, value, and number of deals down by 66.67 per cent, 10.65 per cent, and 5.60 per cent, respectively.
This was because market participants transacted 1.4 billion shares worth N45.3 billion in 39,134 deals during the session compared with the 4.2 billion shares valued at n50.7 billion traded in 41,454 deals on Thursday.
Fortis Global Insurance was the most active equity for the day, with a turnover of 874.1 million units valued at N2.4 billion, Cornerstone Insurance sold 100.3 million units worth N506.5 million, Universal Insurance traded 56.7 million units for N44.5 million, Sterling Holdings exchanged 53.3 million units worth N402.9 million, and MTN Nigeria transacted 44.6 million units valued at N31.4 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira maintained stability against the United States Dollar in the different segments of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Friday, August 14, according to data obtained by Business Post.
At the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), the local currency remained unchanged at N1,357.65/$1, but lost N6.05 against the Pound Sterling to trade at N1,840.10 versus the previous session’s N1,834.05/£1, and depreciated against the Euro by N4.70 to sell for N1,571.70/€1 compared with the preceding day’s N1,567.00/€1.
At the black market, the Nigerian currency traded flat against the Dollar at N1,395/$1, but gained N3 at the GTBank forex desk to quote at N1,364/$1 versus Thursday’s exchange rate of N1,367/$1.
Data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) showed that interbank FX transactions surged by 51.2 per cent to $119.594 million from $79.097 million. These transactions were executed in 137 deals, higher than the 98 deals recorded a day earlier.
FX inflows from exporters, remittances and other sources, alongside demand from importers and individuals requiring Dollars, continue to shape market conditions.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market recovered yesterday after experiencing a downturn in the previous sessions following reports that index provider MSCI has proposed new “non-operating company” screens for its Global Investable Market Indexes. Although the framework does not explicitly target cryptocurrency, it evaluates whether a company’s core operating assets constitute more than 50 per cent of its total holdings.
Heavy digital asset treasury adopters, including Strategy and Metaplanet, fail the proposed criteria and face potential removal during upcoming index rebalancings. While inclusion in major equity benchmarks previously allowed passive index funds and ETFs to automatically acquire these stocks, their removal could trigger forced institutional selling.
Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 0.7 per cent to $0.07, Binance Coin (BNB) expanded by 0.6 per cent to $611.34, Ethereum (ETH) added 0.4 per cent to trade at $1,879.65, and Bitcoin (BTC) increased by 0.2 per cent to $63,045.87, with Ripple (XRP), the US Dollar Tether (USDT), and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) flat at $1.00, respectively.
But Cardano (ADA) lost 1.2 per cent to trade at $0.1795, TRON (TRX) shed 0.4 per cent to finish at $0.3323, and Solana (SOL) declined by 0.2 per cent to $75.60.
