Economy
Equities Lose N49bn as Short-Term Traders Invade Market
By Dipo Olowookere
Short-term traders unleashed terror on the market on Wednesday, sending the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited back to the bears’ territory with a 0.22 per cent loss.
Business Post reports that the gains recorded yesterday were almost wiped off by profit-taking on the back of selloffs in GTCO, Access Bank, Ardova, FBN Holdings and others.
At the close of transactions, there were 24 price losers and 14 price gainers, indicating a negative market breadth and a weak investor sentiment.
Japaul closed as the worst-performing stock after its share value depreciated by 9.09 per cent to 40 kobo, followed by Neimeth, which also lost 9.09 per cent to trade at N1.80.
Unity Bank declined by 8.47 per cent to sell for 54 kobo, Consolidated Hallmark Insurance depleted by 8.06 per cent to close at 57 kobo, while Unilever Nigeria fell by 7.53 per cent to finish at N13.50.
The best performing stock for the trading day was ABC Transport, rising by 10.00 per cent to trade at 33 kobo. Chams grew by 4.55 per cent to sell for 23 kobo, Cutix gained 3.08 per cent to quote at N3.35, Wema Bank appreciated by 2.35 per cent to finish at 87 kobo, while Transcorp rose by 2.06 per cent to 99 kobo.
A check on the performance of the major sectors of the market showed that only the industrial goods sector closed in the green territory and it was by a marginal 0.01 per cent.
The insurance counter lost 0.85 per cent, the energy sector declined by 0.82 per cent, the consumer goods space depreciated by 0.66 per cent, while the banking index went down by 0.37 per cent.
At the close of trades on Wednesday, the All-Share Index (ASI) contracted by 94.30 points to settle at 43,349.90 points versus the preceding session’s 43,444.20 points, while the market capitalisation retreated by N49 billion to finish at N22.623 trillion in contrast to N22.672 trillion it ended a day earlier.
At the midweek session, the most traded stock was FBN Holdings as it sold 68.6 million units valued at N856.2 million, while the next, International Breweries, traded 36.7 million units valued at N201.8 million.
Further, GTCO exchanged 24.2 million equities worth N644.0 million, Unity Bank traded 9.5 million stocks worth N5.2 million, while Access Bank transacted 9.5 million shares for N87.3 million.
In all, a total of 264.8 million shares worth N6.1 billion exchanged hands in 4,230 deals on Wednesday as against the 423.8 million shares valued at N11.7 billion traded in 4,181 deals on Tuesday, implying that the trading volume and value went down by 37.53 per cent and 47.77 per cent respectively, while the number of deals increased by 1.17 per cent.
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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