Economy
Equities Lose N426bn as Index Crashes to 23,572.75 Points
By Dipo Olowookere
The woes of investors continued on Wednesday on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) as they lost the sum of N426 billion due to the panic caused by coronavirus.
During the midweek trading session, the total value of stocks on the local bourse, which is captured by the market capitalisation, reduced to N12.284 trillion from N12.710 trillion.
In the same vein, the situation caused the crashing of the All-Share Index (ASI) by 815.91 points to 23,572.75 points from 24,388.66 points it closed on Tuesday.
Business Post reports that the market lost 3.35 percent as the market breadth remained negative with 20 price losers and 18 price gainers, an improvement from the previous day’s three.
Nestle Nigeria was the heaviest price loser, depreciating by N101.70 to N915.30 per unit, while Dangote Cement lost N17 to settle at N153 per share.
Conoil fell by N1.60 to close at N14.60 per unit, NASCON declined by N1.15 to N10.55 per share, while Zenith Bank depreciated by N1 to sell at N12.05 per share.
On the flip side, Unilever Nigeria topped the gainers’ chart, rising by N1.05 to trade at N11.65 per unit, while UBA gained 55 kobo to quote at N6.20 per share.
Vitafoam appreciated by 38 kobo to sell at N4.45 per share, UAC Nigeria rose by 30 kobo to settle at N7.50 per unit, while FCMB gained 15 kobo to trade at N1.66 per share.
Like in the previous session, the cheap prices of stocks gave some investors an ample opportunity to expand their portfolios.
A total of 1.4 billion shares worth N17.7 billion were transacted in 7,150 deals on Wednesday compared with the 594.6 million equities valued at N4.2 billion traded in 4,010 deals on Tuesday. This indicated a 78.30 percent rise in the number of deals, 134.04 percent growth in the trading volume and 319.43 percent improvement in the value trades.
Zenith Bank was the most traded stock yesterday. The lender transacted 412.4 million units of its stocks worth N5.1 billion.
The next stock was GTBank, which sold 385.2 million units worth N7.2 billion. FBN Holdings exchanged 303.0 million shares for N1.3 billion, UBA traded 60.0 million equities valued at N370.2 million, while Wapic Insurance transacted 30.7 million stocks for N10.1 million.
An analysis of the sectoral performance yesterday showed that only the insurance counter closed in green, appreciating by 2.24 percent when activities were wrapped up.
The consumer goods sector lost 4.74 percent, the industrial goods index declined by 3.42 percent, the banking counter depreciated by 2.70 percent, while the oil and gas space went down by 0.70 percent.
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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