Economy
Buying Interests in Airtel, GTCO Propel NGX to 1.71% Rise
By Dipo Olowookere
The local stock market witnessed a 1.71 per cent growth on Friday as investors showed buying interests in Airtel Africa, GTCO, Wema Bank and other equities.
It was observed that traders pounced on these and other stocks with the hope that their prices would rise in the coming weeks.
This was reflected in the significant increase in the activity level yesterday as the trading volume, value and number of deals jumped by 64.71 per cent, 242.43 per cent and 4.34 per cent respectively.
At the close of business, investors traded 190.1 million stocks worth N4.1 billion in 3,893 deals compared with the 115.4 million stocks worth N1.2 billion transacted on Thursday in 3,731 deals.
Caverton was the busiest stock during the session as it traded 47.5 million shares valued at N64.6 million, GTCO exchanged 14.8 million equities worth N310.0 million, UBA sold 14.7 million stocks for N109.4 million, Transcorp exchanged 13.1 million shares for N16.3 million, while Access Holdings traded 10.8 million stocks for N99.3 million.
From the analysis of the trading data, the insurance, consumer goods, banking and energy sector closed in the green territory after they respectively grew by 0.51 per cent, 0.33 per cent, 0.10 per cent and 0.06 per cent, while the industrial goods counter lost 1.87 per cent.
Despite the positive outcome, the market breadth and investor sentiment were weak as the bourse ended the session with 20 price gainers and 22 price losers.
On top of the decliners’ table was Fidson as its price shed 9.95 per cent to settle at N9.41, NPF Microfinance Bank also dropped 9,95 per cent to trade at N8.60, Linkage Assurance depreciated by 8.62 per cent to 53 Kobo, Courteville declined by 7.84 per cent to 47 Kobo, while Honeywell Flour declined by 7.41 per cent to trade at N2.75.
Conversely, the duo of Wema Bank and Airtel Africa appreciated by 10.00 per cent each to close at N3.74 and N1905.40 respectively. UPDC improved by 8.62 per cent to N1.26, Champion Breweries rose by 8.45 per cent to N3.85, while Prestige Assurance gained 7.89 per cent to finish at 41 Kobo.
At the close of trades, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 876.11 points to 52,215.12 points from 51,339.01 points, while the market capitalisation went up by N473 billion to N28.158 trillion from N27.685 trillion.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
One of the paint makers in Nigeria, Premier Paints Plc, is currently in talks with a new investor, Xenergi Limited, for the purchase of 51 per cent stake in the company.
Xenergi Limited intends to acquire shares of Clover Global Resources Limited and TGHL Capital Limited in the organisation.
Business Post gathered that the new investor will buy 39.02 per cent from Clover Global Resources Limited and 15.20 per cent from TGHL Capital Limited.
The deal, according to a regulatory notice issued on Tuesday on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited, will involve about 63 million shares of Premier Paints.
At the current share price of the paint producer, this should be about N630 million as it closed at N10.00 per unit on NGX on December 16, 2025.
“Subject to obtaining required regulatory approvals, the transaction is expected to close before January 31, 2026.
“The company will continue to inform the public of the progress of the transaction,” the disclosure signed by the company secretary, Alozie Nwokoro, said.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira was flat against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Tuesday, December 16, retaining the previous closing value of N1,451.82/$1.
In the same vein, the local currency saw no movement against the Pound Sterling and the Euro in the spot market during the session at N1,943.98/£1 and N1,705.74/€1, respectively.
Also, the Nigerian Naira remained unchanged in the black market yesterday at N1,475/$1 and was N1,460/$1 at the GTBank forex counter.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has strengthened US Dollar supply with $250 million to authorised dealer banks at the official window cumulatively as foreign portfolio investors, exporters and non-bank corporate supply dripped.
The spread between official and other non-regulated markets decreased to N30.59$/1 from N44.57/$1, from the previous week, research subsidiary of Coronation Merchant Bank Limited said in a report.
FX analysts said foreign exchange inflows through the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market decreased to $716.3 million from $844.70 million in the previous week , a 15 per cent drop in a week.
Foreign portfolio investors accounted for the highest share of inflows at 32.98 per cent, followed by exporters at 30.84 per cent, the CBN (17.36 per cent), Non-bank Corporates (16.94 per cent), others (0.72 per cent) and Individuals (0.63 per cent).
On Monday, Nigeria’s headline inflation rate eased to 14.45 per cent in November 2025, down from 16.05 per cent recorded in October, according to the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), representing a decrease of 1.6 percentage points month-on-month and marks a significant moderation compared to the same period last year.
As for the cryptocurrency market, there was some recoveries after overall capitalization falling below $3 trillion for the third time in a month. Large-cap assets, particularly those with Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) exposure, are experiencing selling pressure as institutional investors reassess risk.
Ripple (XRP) appreciated by 1.5 per cent to $1.92, Litecoin (LTC) expanded by 1.5 per cent to $78.91, Dogecoin (DOGE) rose by 0.8 per cent to $0.1308, Solana (SOL) went up by 0.4 per cent to $127.60, Binance Coin (BNB) grew by 0.3 per cent to $865.40, and Bitcoin (BTC) gained 0.2 per cent to sell at $86,735.17.
On the flip side, Cardano (ADA) depreciated by 1.0 per cent to $0.3802 and Ethereum (ETH) slumped by 0.4 per cent to $2,935.85, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) were flat at $1.00 each.
By Dipo Olowookere
A marginal 0.01 per cent rise was recorded by the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Tuesday. This was different from the flattish mode of the market the previous day.
Investor sentiment remained bullish as Customs Street finished with 31 price gainers and 26 price losers, implying a positive market breadth index.
Aluminium Extrusion topped the gainers’ log after it improved its price by 10.00 per cent to N9.35, Guinness Nigeria appreciated by 9.98 per cent to N263.40, Multiverse expanded by 9.95 per cent to N12.15, MeCure Industries also soared by 9.95 per cent to N45.85, and Sovereign Trust Insurance advanced by 9.89 per cent to N4.11.
Conversely, Haldane McCall led the losers’ chart after it shed 9.93 per cent to settle at N3.72, Veritas Kapital lost 9.09 per cent to close at N1.60, LivingTrust Mortgage Bank also declined by 9.09 per cent to N3.50, and Linkage Assurance depreciated by 5.71 per cent to N1.65.
During the trading day, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 21.23 points to 149,459.11 points from the previous day’s 149,437.88 points and the market capitalisation increased by N14 billion to N95.281 trillion from N95.267 trillion.
Yesterday, traders transacted 1.0 billion equities for N21.8 billion in 23,701 deals compared with the 553.1 million equities valued at N13.3 billion traded in 28,907 deals on Monday, representing a decline in the number of deals by 18.01 per cent, and a surge in the trading volume and value by 80.80 per cent and 63.91 per cent apiece.
Access Holdings traded 385.8 million stocks worth N7.7 billion, Champion Breweries transacted 111.8 million shares valued at N817.8 million, Sterling Holdings exchanged 85.5 million equities for N589.9 million, FCMB sold 74.7 million shares valued at N791.5 million, and First Holdco transacted 51.9 million equities worth N1.8 billion.
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