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.
Economy
BNB Price Reflects Changing Dynamics in the Digital Asset Market
Economy
NASD Unlisted Security Index Crosses 4,000-point Benchmark Again
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange achieved a milestone on Friday, April 24, 2026, after five securities on the platform helped with a 1.85 per cent growth.
Data showed that the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) again crossed the 4,000-point benchmark yesterday.
The index chalked up 73.64 points during the trading day to close at 4,052.59 points compared with the preceding session’s 3,978.95 points, while the market capitalisation added N5.38 billion to finish at N2.424 trillion versus Thursday’s closing value of N2.380 trillion.
The price gainers were led by Okitipupa Plc, which grew by N25.00 to sell at N305.00 per share compared with the previous price of N280.00 per share. Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc gained N6.92 to close at N76.26 per unit versus N69.34 per unit, Afriland Properties Plc appreciated by N1.00 to N17.00 per share from N18.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc improved by 55 Kobo to N99.55 per unit from N99.00 per unit, and Food Concepts Plc increased by 5 Kobo to N2.70 per share from N2.65 per share.
However, there was a price loser, MRS Oil, which dipped by N21.75 to N195.75 per unit from N217.50 per unit.
During the final session of the week, the value of securities jumped 75.2 per cent to N41.3 million from N23.6 million units, and the number of deals expanded by 62.9 per cent to 44 deals from 27 deals, while the volume of securities declined marginally by 0.9 per cent to 447,403 units from 451,522 units.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc was the most traded stock by volume (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, trailed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units traded for N1.2 billion.
GNI was also the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 59.6 million units transacted for N4.0 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.8 million units exchanged for N1.9 billion.
Economy
Naira Slips to N1,358/$1 as FX Reserves, Policy Uncertainty Concerns
By Adedapo Adesanya
It was not a good day for the Nigerian Naira in the currency market on Friday, April 24, as its value depreciated against the major foreign currencies at the close of transactions.
In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX), it lost N4.53 or 0.33 per cent against the United States Dollar yesterday to trade at N1,358.44/$1, in contrast to the N1,353.91/$1 it was exchanged on Thursday.
Equally, the domestic currency slipped against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N8.14 to close at N1,834.02/£1, compared with the previous rate of N1,825.88/£1 and dropped N8.01 against the Euro to sell at N1,590.73/€1 versus N1,582.72/€1.
Also, the Naira depreciated against the US Dollar at the GTBank FX desk on Friday by N4 to quote at N1,370/$1 compared with the previous session’s N1,366/$1, and at the parallel market, it depleted by N5 to settle at N1,380/$1 versus the preceding day’s N1,375/$1.
Data published by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) indicated that NFEM interbank turnover surged to N43.562 million across 68 deals, up from N28.117 million the previous day.
Despite the CBN’s reassurance that the recent drop in external reserves is not worrisome, the market remains unsettled by persistent concerns over liquidity constraints, policy transparency, and weakening confidence in Nigeria’s FX market as gross reserves continue to decline to $48.4 billion.
The outlook for the Dollar appears supported by broader macro risks, including elevated oil prices tied to the tanker traffic disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and a continued US-Iran standoff over ceasefire negotiations.
A look at the digital currency market showed that investors are sitting on the edge as the US Dollar rebounded amid geopolitical and inflation risks despite continued inflows into US spot bitcoin Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).
Solana (SOL) rose by 1.2 per cent to sell $86.45, Cardano (ADA) appreciated by 1.1 per cent to $0.2517, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 0.9 per cent to $0.0989, Ripple (XRP) improved by 0.3 per cent to $1.43, Ethereum (ETH) soared by 0.2 per cent to $2,316.83, and Binance Coin (BNB) chalked up 0.1 per cent to sell for $637.44.
However, TRON (TRX) depreciated by 1.3 per cent to $0.3235, and Bitcoin (BTC) lost 0.2 per cent to close at $77,562.27, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.
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