Economy

Banking Stocks Drag NSE Index Down by 0.77%

Published

6 years ago

31/08/2018

By Dipo Olowookere

Activities at the local bourse finished bearish again on Thursday as result of losses recorded by counters in the banking sector.

Late Wednesday, UBA and Access Bank finally released their much-awaited half year earnings and despite the impressive results churned out by the former, investors chose to react to the not-too impressive numbers of the latter.

At the close of transactions on Thursday, the banking index lost 1.77 percent as a result of losses recorded by the big players as well as the mid-level lenders in the sector.

On Wednesday evening, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) fined two of the financial institutions trading its shares on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) for forex infractions. They banks fined were Diamond Bank and Stanbic IBTC.

They were among the four lenders slapped with a fine of N5.9 billion for the illegal repatriation of about $14 billion for MTN Nigeria Communications Limited some years ago.

Also at the market yesterday, the industrial index depreciated by 2.30 percent just as the insurance sector fell by 1.48 percent.

By the time the market closed for the day, it was down by 0.77 percent, while the year-to-date returns finished at -8.25 percent.

Business Post reports that the All-Share Index (ASI) went down by 272.27 points to settle at 35,086.67 points, while the market capitalisation reduced by N10 billion to end at N12.809 trillion.

Just like the previous session, the market breadth closed negative yesterday with 12 price gainers and 27 price losers.

Lafarge Africa topped the losers’ chart with N1.80k of its share value lost yesterday to close at N23.70k per share.

It was followed by Forte Oil, which went down by N1.70k to finish at N20 per share, and Stanbic IBTC, which depreciated by N1.25k to end at N47.25k per share.

GTBank fell by N1.05k to close at N38 per share, while Dangote Cement declined by N1 to end at N228 per share.

On the flip side, Guinness Nigeria, which released it 2018 financial year results on Wednesday night, closed on Thursday better with N5 added to its share price, closing at N95 per share.

NEM Insurance, which has lately been getting attention of investors, appreciated by 30 kobo to close at N3.30k per share, while FBN Holdings went up by 10 kobo to end at N9.10k per share.

NASCON improved on Thursday by 5 kobo to settle at N20.05k per share, while AIICO Insurance also gained 5 kobo to finish at 75 kobo per share.

A look at the activity chart showed that while the volume of trades declined by 17.52 percent, the value increased by 51.94 percent.

Investors staked M3.5 billion on 284.6 million shares yesterday in 3,303 deals compared with the 345.1 million shares worth N2.3 billion transacted in 3,261 deals the previous day.

The impressive results released by UBA, coupled with the interim dividend it offered on Wednesday propelled investors rush its shares on Thursday, emerging the most traded stock at the market, trading 57.1 million units worth N452.3 million.

It was followed by NEM Insurance, which sold 45.3 million equities for N131.7 million, and Access Bank, which exchanged 30.7 million shares valued at N281.1 million.

Diamond Bank traded 17.2 million units of its stock for N21.7 million, while FCMB sold 16.4 million shares valued at N29.5 million.

Economy

Stock Market Grows 0.79% as Investors Buy Guinness Nigeria, Others

Published

15 hours ago

25/01/2025

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

It was a good day for the stock market in Nigeria as it appreciated by 0.79 per cent on Friday to bring the year-to-date return to 0.66 per cent.

This was influenced by renewed interest across most of the sectors of the market, though the insurance index declined by 2.15 per cent when trading activities ended for the session.

Business Post reports that the banking counter appreciated by 1.97 per cent, the consumer goods space grew by 0.70 per cent, the industrial goods sector gained 0.09 per cent, and the energy counter closed flat.

Yesterday, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 810.26 points to 103,598.46 points from the preceding day’s 102,788.20 points and the market capitalisation by N497 billion to N63.645 trillion from Thursday’s N63.148 trillion.

Chellaram was the biggest price gainer on Friday after it chalked up 10.00 per cent to trade at N4.07, Guinness Nigeria also appreciated by 10.00 per cent to N77.00, SCOA Nigeria improved by 10.00 per cent to N3.96, Transcorp Power jumped by 7.96 per cent to N349.80, and Lasaco Assurance went up by 7.19 per cent to N3.28.

Conversely, Neimeth was the biggest price loser as it shed 9.88 per cent to N3.10, John Holt declined by 9.78 per cent to N8.30, International Energy Insurance depleted by 9.74 per cent to N1.76, Sovereign Trust Insurance fell by 9.40 per cent to N1.06, and Austin Laz lost 9.00 per cent to close at N1.82.

As for the activity chart, a total of 576.4 million stocks valued at N9.0 billion in 11,546 deals compared with the 394.4 million stocks worth N22.8 billion traded in 12,160 deals in the preceding session, indicating a rise in the trading volume by 46.15 per cent, and a decline in the trading value and number of deals by 60.53 per cent and 5.05 per cent.

Secure Electronic Technology was the busiest equity with 202.2 million units worth N151.8 million, Nigerian Breweries traded 42.1 million units valued at N1.3 billion, Japaul exchanged 34.6 million units for N79.7 million, Access Holdings sold 32.2 million units valued at N807.0 million, and Sovereign Trust Insurance traded 17.0 million units worth N18.3 million.

Economy

Nigeria’s OTC Exchange Jumps 0.42%

Published

16 hours ago

25/01/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange recorded a 0.42 per cent gain on Friday, January 24 after three equities ended on the advancers’ chart at the close of business.

Nipco Plc gained N15.01 during the trading day to close at N165.11 per share versus N150.10 per share of the preceding session, Okitipupa Plc added N4.79 to end the session at N52.69 per unit compared with Thursday’s trading value of N47.90 per unit, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc expanded by 80 Kobo to trade at N24.00 per share, in contrast to the N23.30 per share it was sold a day earlier.

The gains recorded by these stocks pushed the value of the bourse higher by NN7.41 billion to N1.775 trillion from the N1.767 trillion recorded in the preceding session and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) grew by 6.93 points to wrap the session at 3,133.20 points compared with 3,120.13 points recorded in the previous session.

Yesterday, the price of FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc went down by 92 Kobo to end the session at N38.58 per share, in contrast to the previous day’s N39.50 per share.

The volume of securities traded in the session decreased on Friday by 95.9 per cent to 16.3 million units from 407.4 million units, the value of shares traded yesterday slumped by 97.4 per cent to N10.2 million from N391.2 million units, and the number of deals declined by 23.3 per cent to 23 deals from 30 deals.

Impresit Bakolori Plc was the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 406.5 million units worth N386.1 million, followed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 4.3 million units valued at N170.4 million, and Geo-Fluids Plc with 9.1 million units sold for N44.3 million.

Impresit Bakolori Plc was also the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 406.5 million units worth N386.1 million, trailed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 26.3 million units sold for N6.3 million, and Geo-Fluids Plc with 9.2 million units valued at N44.3 million.

Economy

Naira Appreciates to N1,531/$1 at NAFEM, N1,660/$1 at Parallel Market

Published

16 hours ago

25/01/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira extended its recent gaining spree by 1.12 per cent or N17.39 on the US Dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Friday, January 24.

Yesterday, the local currency was traded in the official market at N1,531.20/$1 compared with the preceding trading day’s value of N1,548.59/$1.

The recent appreciation aligns with expectations that the Naira will appreciate in the first quarter of the year, backed by continued policy support by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), with the latest being the launch of the FX Code due next week to enhance transparency in the market.

Also, the domestic currency improved its value against the Pound Sterling in the spot market on the last trading day of the week by N8.97 to quote at N1,903.24/£1, in contrast to Thursday’s exchange rate of N1,912.21/£1 and against the Euro, it gained N8.72 to finish at N1,605.17/€1 versus the preceding day’s N1,613.89/€1.

In the same vein, the domestic currency appreciated against the American Dollar in the parallel market yesterday to sell for N1,660/$1 compared with the N1,665/$1 it was traded a day earlier.

In the cryptocurrency market, there was profit-taking following earlier euphoria around US President Donald Trump’s ambitious “Stargate Project” announcement, which is a $500 billion commitment to enhancing the US AI infrastructure.

Crypto commentators believe this signals a shift toward reduced oversight with the pledge unveiled on Tuesday, bringing together tech giants OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank with an initial commitment of $100 billion, scaling to $500 billion over four years.

Solana (SOL) dipped by 4.9 per cent to trade at $247.14, Ethereum (ETH) dropped 2.8 per cent to $3,290.29, Dogecoin (DOGE) fell by 2.4 per cent to $0.3488, and Cardano (ADA) slid by 2.1 per cent to $0.9763.

Further, Ripple (XRP) went down by 1.9 per cent to $3.11, Binance Coin (BNB) shrank by 0.7 per cent to $687.71, and Bitcoin (BTC) declined by 0.6 per cent to $104,369.28, while Litecoin (LTC) appreciated by 3.9 per cent to $121.63, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.