Economy
Banking, Energy Stocks Drive Customs Street’s 0.31% Rebound
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited recorded its first gain in five straight trading sessions on Thursday with a rebound of 0.31 per cent, mainly driven by buying interest in banking, energy, and consumer goods stocks.
Customs Street had been in the bears’ territory since last Friday due to weak investors, triggered by profit-taking despite encouraging economic data and positive half-year results by GTCO, Zenith Bank, Stanbic IBTC and others.
Data from the bourse showed that there pockets of profit-taking, especially in the insurance counter as its index went down by 0.41 per cent.
This was offset by the banking space, which gained 1.02 per cent, the energy sector, which appreciated by 0.74 per cent, and the consumer goods industry, which rose by 0.31 per cent. The commodity and the industrial goods sectors were flat yesterday.
At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) moved up by 441.39 points to 141,157.49 points from 140,716.10 points and the market capitalisation increased by N279 billion to N89.343 trillion from N89.064 trillion.
Business Post reports that there were 34 appreciating equities and 22 depreciating equities during the session, indicating a positive market breadth index and strong investor sentiment.
Mecure topped the gainers’ chart after chalking up 9.89 per cent to trade at N26.10, Oando improved by 9.50 per cent to N49.00, McNichols appreciated by 9.31 per cent to N3.64, Chams jumped by 9.24 per cent to N3.43, and Legend Internet soared by 9.18 per cent to N5.35.
On the flip side, Eterna led the losers’ log after it gave up 10.00 per cent to sell for N27.90, Sovereign Trust Insurance depleted by 4.84 per cent to N2.95, The Initiates weakened by 3.84 per cent to N12.02, Caverton slipped by 3.76 per cent to N6.40, and Fidson lost 3.72 per cent to finish at N41.40.
The NGX recorded a significant spike in trading activity on Thursday, with Unity Bank selling 4.0 billion shares worth NN12.7 billion to lead the activity chart.
Aradel Holdings transacted 693.3 million stocks valued at N388.2 billion, Consolidated Hallmark exchanged 333.2 million equities for N1.3 billion, Sterling Holdings sold 104.9 million shares worth N771.8 million, and Zenith Bank traded 45.5 million stocks valued at N3.1 billion.
When the market closed for the session, the turnover stood at 5.5 billion equities worth N419.7 billion executed in 20,399 deals versus the 442.6 million equities valued at N17.0 billion traded in 21,684 deals a day earlier, showing a surge in the trading volume, and value by 1,142.66 per cent, 2,368.82 per cent, respectively, and a decline in the number of deals by 5.92 per cent.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria is currently in talks with the World Bank for a fresh $1.25 billion loan in June 2026.
According to a document titled Nigeria Actions for Investment and Jobs Acceleration, the proposed loan will finance ongoing economic reforms, job creation, and competitiveness.
Already, talks are at the critical stage for the loan facility expected to be presented for approval on June 26, 2026. The loan has progressed beyond the initial concept and appraisal phases.
If approved, it will come off as the second-largest loan facility after the approval of the ‘$1.5bn Reforms for Economic Stabilisation to Enable Transformation Development Policy Financing’ approved by the Bank in June 2024.
The borrower is listed as the Federal Republic of Nigeria, while the Federal Ministry of Finance will serve as the implementing agency.
This comes as the country’s debt profile remains high. As of December 31, 2025, external debt stood at $51.86 billion, while Nigeria’s total public debt in dollars is currently at $110.97 billion
The loan is now at the decision-meeting stage of the World Bank’s project cycle, a point at which the lender’s management reviews the final appraisal package and determines whether the project should proceed to the Board of Executive Directors for approval.
This stage comes after appraisal and negotiations have been concluded, with key policy actions, financing terms, and reform commitments already agreed in principle between the borrower and the World Bank team.
In the World Bank process, the decision meeting represents a near-final internal clearance, after which the project is prepared for formal Board consideration, where final approval is granted.
The World Bank document stated, “The review did authorise the team to appraise and negotiate,” meaning the project has successfully passed earlier internal checks and is advancing toward final approval.
According to the global lender, the loan is designed “to support the government’s efforts to expand access to finance, digital, and electricity services, and strengthen competitiveness through tax, trade, and agriculture reforms.”
Under President Bola Tinubu, the World Bank has approved about $9.35 billion in loans and credits for Nigeria between June 2023 and May 2026.
These approvals span multiple sectors, including power, education, healthcare, agriculture, social protection, renewable energy, MSME financing, and economic reform support.
Key packages include the $2.25 billion RESET and ARMOR reform financing in June 2024, $1.57 billion for HOPE and SPIN programmes in September 2024, and $1.08 billion for education and resilience programmes in March 2025.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The duo of FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc and the Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc boosted the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.05 per cent on Monday, May 11.
FrieslandCampina Wamco added N13.07 to sell N146.00 per share versus the previous price of N132.98 per share, and CSCS Plc rose by 10 Kobo to close at N76.00 per unit compared with last Friday’s N75.90 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation increased by N26.20 billion to N2.514 trillion from N2.488 trillion, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) went up by 48.80 points to 4,202.57 points from 4,158.77 points.
The volume of securities bought and sold by market participants decreased by 55.2 per cent yesterday to 236,921 units from 528,891 units, the value of securities slid by 51.5 per cent to N16.5 million from N34.0 million, and the number of deals contracted by 20 per cent to 20 deals from 25 deals.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc ended the day as the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units traded for N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 60.5 million units exchanged for N4.1 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.8 million units transacted for N1.9 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units sold for N1.2 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira opened the week on a negative note on Monday after it depreciated against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) by 0.86 per cent or N11.77 to sell for N1,373.16/$1 compared with the preceding session’s value of N1,361.39/$1.
It also weakened against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N17.39 to quote at N1,871.07/£1 versus last Friday’s rate of N1,853.68/£1, and against the Euro, it slumped by N15.78 to close at N1,618.41/€1 versus N1,602.63/€1.
At the black market, the Nigerian currency lost N5 against the Dollar yesterday, settling at N1,385/$1 compared with the previous rate of N1,380/$1. At the GTBank forex desk, it depreciated by N3 to sell at N1,375/$1 compared with the previous value of N1,372/$1.
Nigeria’s external reserves have fallen below $48.4 billion as of May 8, driven by interventions and external obligations by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). In the first three weeks of April, the country’s FX reserves lost about $731 million.
Softer liquidity conditions have also dampened foreign investors’ appetite, with data from the FMDQ Securities Exchange showing that total foreign exchange inflows declined by 30.1 per cent month-on-month to $2.86 billion in April from $4.09 billion in March. Out of this, foreign inflows weakened by 21.9 per cent to $1.63 billion from $2.09 billion in March.
As for the cryptocurrency market, prices were largely up as global equity markets and other risk assets came under pressure. Rising oil prices, higher treasury yields and renewed US-Iran tensions, along with a key inflation report from the world’s largest economy due on Tuesday, applied pressure.
Binance Coin (BNB) jumped 1.5 per cent to $662.80, Solana (SOL) appreciated by 0.9 per cent to $96.63, Dogecoin (DOGE) added 0.7 per cent to close at $0.1104, Bitcoin (BTC) improved by 0.5 per cent to $81,221.78, and Ripple (XRP) gained 0.5 per cent to sell at $1.46.
On the flip side, Ethereum (ETH) went down by 0.9 per cent to $2,310.49, Cardano (ADA) weakened by 0.4 per cent to $0.2776, and TRON (TRX) slid by 0.3 per cent to $0.3487, the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.
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