Economy
Cautious Trading Sways Nigeria’s Stock Market Southwards
By Dipo Olowookere
Nigeria’s stock market swayed southwards on Tuesday following mild profit-taking and cautious trading by investors, who were waiting for the outcome of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The apex bank had commenced the important gathering, the fourth this year, on Monday and the Governor of the CBN, Mr Godwin Emefiele, was expected to announce the decision of the team.
Some analysts had predicted that the benchmark interest rate would be retained at 11.5 per cent, while others projected that it would be tampered with, especially because of the decline in inflation rate in June for the third consecutive month.
Investors knew that the outcome of the meeting would not be out before the closure of the market for the day and to play safe, they had to monitor the equity market from the sidelines. This gave room for some of them to book profit from the gains of the previous trading sessions.
This depleted the market yesterday by 0.12 per cent. Business Post reports that it was the first loss the local bourse was recording in six trading sessions.
At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) reduced by 46.93 points to settle at 38,802.15 points versus the previous 38,849.08 points.
In the same vein, the market capitalisation decreased at the close of transactions by N24 billion to finish at N20.217 trillion compared with N20.241 trillion it ended on Monday.
It was observed that during the session, investors reduced their level of activity, causing the trading volume to go down by 1.41 per cent to 243.1 million units from 246.6 million units.
Also, the trading value shrank by 15.32 per cent to N1.9 billion from N2.2 billion, while the number of deals decreased by 7.49 per cent to 4,326 deals from 4,676 deals.
When the trading session was ended, Access Bank was the most traded stock with the sale of 21.8 million shares valued at N204.4 million and was trailed by Wema Bank, which sold 21.3 million stocks worth N17.9 million.
UPDC transacted 14.6 million equities worth N18.3 million, UAC Nigeria traded 14.4 million shares valued at N162.2 million, while UBA transacted 12.6 million shares worth N99.1 million.
On the price movement chart, UPDC REIT was the worst price loser as its value went down by 6.67 per cent to settle at N5.60, while Unity Bank lost 6.45 per cent to trade at 58 kobo.
NPF Microfinance Bank depreciated by 5.29 per cent to trade at N1.61, UPDC dropped 5.19 per cent to sell for N1.28, while Chams decreased by 4.76 per cent to 20 kobo.
At the other end, Oando maintained its recent upward trajectory with a price appreciation of 9.86 per cent to close at N4.79 and was trailed by Champion Breweries, which gained 9.00 per cent to sell at N2.30.
FTN Cocoa grew by 8.89 per cent to settle at 49 kobo, Fidson appreciated by 6.73 per cent to close at N6.50, while Livestock Feeds improved by 6.02 per cent to N2.29.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange closed flat on Wednesday, August 5, as the market witnessed weaker trading activity with only two deals executed.
In the midweek session, the volume of securities exchanged by investors dropped 99.9 per cent to 802 units from the 1.6 million units recorded on Tuesday. The value of securities further decreased by 99.6 per cent to N208,240 from the preceding session’s N47.6 million, and the number of deals significantly went down by 93.9 per cent to two deals from the 33 deals recorded a day earlier.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc with 76.9 million units transacted for N5.5 billion.
GNI Plc was also the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units exchanged 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 valued at N415.7 million.
There were no price gainers or losers yesterday.
As a result, the market capitalisation stood unmoving at N2.739 trillion, while the NASD Security Index (NSI) remained unchanged at 4,563.96 points.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira slid against the US Dollar by N2.28 or 0.17 per cent in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Wednesday, August 5, to N1,363.85/$1 from N1,362.55/$1.
The local currency also declined against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N5.97 to close at N1,837.38/£1 compared with Tuesday’s closing rate of N1,831.41/£1, and against the Euro, it crashed by N6.54 to quote at N1,575.25/€1 versus the preceding session’s N1,568.71/€1.
But at the black market, the Nigerian Naira traded flat against the greenback yesterday at N1,400/$1, and also remained unchanged at the GTBank FX desk at N1,373/$1.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says rates have narrowed to below two per cent, while the country’s external reserves have risen above $52.5 billion, reflecting the impact of its ongoing monetary and foreign exchange reforms.
CBN Governor Yemi Cardoso, represented by the Acting Director of Corporate Communications and Investor Relations, Mrs Hakama Sidi-Ali, disclosed this on Tuesday during the CBN Fair in Gombe. He noted that reforms introduced since 2023 had significantly reduced the disparity between the official FX market and the parallel market.
“The Naira continues to strengthen, with the spread between official and Bureau de Change rates now below two per cent,” he said, adding that reserves at $52.5 billion were supported by sustained inflows and renewed investor confidence in the economy.
Interbank FX transactions slid as weaker market activities dropped total Dollar volume exchanged to $75.35 million, a 51.8 per cent decline from $156.23 million in turnover quoted at the previous close.
The deals at the NFEM window also fell as data from the central bank put Wednesday’s quote at 82 from 139.
In the cryptocurrency market, major were down as global risk sentiment softened as a key world equity index slipped and chipmakers fell.
The MSCI All Country World Index snapped a five-day run to fall 0.2 per cent as chipmakers retreated on both sides of the Pacific. South Korea’s Kospi, a bellwether for the AI trade, dropped 4.4 per cent.
Ripple (XRP) depleted by 1.7 per cent to $1.05, Binance Coin (BNB) decreased by 1.0 per cent to $594.87, Cardano (ADA) depreciated by 0.9 per cent to $0.1884, TRON (TRX) shrank by 0.2 per cent to $0.3261, Solana (SOL) crumbled by 0.1 per cent to $74.00, and Dogecoin (DOGE) went down by 0.1 per cent to $0.0697.
On the flip side, Ethereum (ETH) gained 2.3 per cent to trade at $1,911.41, and Bitcoin (BTC) rose by 0.8 per cent to $64,759.28, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.
By Dipo Olowookere
The domestic stock exchange rebounded by 0.05 per cent on Wednesday on the back of renewed bargain-hunting by investors, though the level of activity waned.
After bleeding for a few days, the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited heaved a sigh of relief yesterday, as the All-Share Index (ASI) gained 109.41 points to close at 244,912.24 points compared with the previous day’s 244,802.83 points, and the market capitalisation garnered N71 billion to settle at N158.087 trillion versus Tuesday’s N158.016 trillion.
Business Post reports that despite the rebound recorded by Customs Street at midweek, the market breadth index remained negative, as there were 20 price advancers and 29 price decliners, implying bearish investor sentiment.
Linkage Assurance appreciated by 9.94 per cent to N1.77, AVA Capital rose by 9.55 per cent to N10.90, Fortis Global Insurance advanced by 7.69 per cent to N2.80, McNichols gained 7.34 per cent to finish at N5.85, and Coronation Insurance surged by 5.51 per cent to N2.49.
Conversely, Honeywell Flour depreciated by 9.94 per cent to N16.30, PZ Cussons gave up 9.94 per cent to trade at N74.75, Zichis crashed by 9.74 per cent to N20.76, Learn Africa slipped by 9.62 per cent to N9.40, and Neimeth tumbled by 8.33 per cent to N8.25.
The busiest equity was FCMB, with a turnover of 369.2 million units valued at N4.1 billion. Chams transacted 46.7 million units worth N201.8 million, First Holdco transacted 43.5 million units for N5.7 billion, Access Holdings sold 29.8 million units worth N778.0 million, and Linkage Assurance exchanged 19.6 million units valued at N33.5 million.
At the close of transactions, market participants bought and sold 824.1 million units worth N25.5 billion in 48,114 deals, in contrast to the 1.6 billion units sold for N28.7 billion in 54,160 deals a day earlier, showing a shortfall in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 48.49 per cent, 11.15 per cent, and 11.16 per cent, respectively.
