Economy
Index Sheds 2.54% in 5 Days as Diamond Bank Loses 31.58%
By Dipo Olowookere
Last week on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), the All-Share Index and market capitalisation depreciated by 2.54 percent to close the week at 30,874.17 points and N11.271 trillion respectively.
Similarly, all other indices finished lower with the exception of the NSE ASeM, NSE Insurance and NSE Consumer Goods indices that finished higher by 0.09 percent, 4.71 percent and 0.08 percent respectively.
Also in the week, a total of 25 equities appreciated in price, lower than 30 in the previous week, while 41 equities depreciated in price, higher than 24 of the previous week, with 103 equities remaining unchanged, lower than 115 equities recorded in the preceding week.
Diamond Bank topped the losers’ chart with 31.58 percent loss to close at 65 kobo per share against 95 kobo per share it opened for the week.
Prestige Assurance followed with 30.38 percent decline to settle at 55 kobo per share, while Unity Bank went down by 18.82 percent to close at 69 kobo per share.
Associated Bus Company fell by 12.90 percent to end at 27 kobo per share, while AG Leventis Nigeria depreciated by 12.12 percent to quote at 29 kobo per share.
At the other end, Continental Reinsurance gained 33.33 percent to finish at N2 per share, while Beta Glas appreciated by 9.98 percent to close at N68.30 per share.
Cutix garnered 9.64 percent to close at N1.82 per share, GlaxoSmithKline rose by 9.43 percent to end at N14.50 per share, while Mutual Benefits Assurance gained 8.70 percent to settle at 25 kobo per share.
Business Post reports that a total turnover of 1.2 billion shares worth N14.3 billion in 15,841 deals were traded in the week by investors in contrast to a total of 1.282 billion shares valued at N23.1 billion that exchanged hands the previous week in 11,467 deals.
The Financial Services sector, measured by volume, led the activity chart with 963.3 million shares valued at N7.5 billion traded in 8,871 deals, contributing 80.38 percent and 52.79 percent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
The Consumer Goods industry followed with 83 million shares worth N4.2 billion in 2,802 deals, while the third place was occupied by the Industrial Goods sector with a turnover of 60.8 million shares worth N2 billion in 1,639 deals.
Trading in the top three shares; Diamond Bank, Access Bank and Universal Insurance, measured by volume, accounted for 512.5 million shares worth N1.4 billion in 1,437 deals, contributing 42.76 percent and 9.57 percent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
During the week, there was no trade recorded for Exchange Traded Products (ETPs). However, a total of 5,637 units valued at N1.301 million was transacted the previous week in 5 deals, while a total of 16,686 units of Federal Government Bonds valued at N16.442 million were traded in the week under review in 10 deals compared with a total of 3,032 units valued at N3.046 million transacted a week earlier in 16 deals.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc again pulled down the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange on Thursday, August 20, by 1.11 per cent.
The securities depository company further lost N5.93 during the trading session to close at N82.20 per share versus the midweek closing price of N88.12 per share.
As a result, the NASD Security Index (NSI) slid by 48.25 points to 4,284.84 points from 4,333.09 points, and trimmed the bourse’s market capitalisation by N28.96 billion to N2.571 trillion from N2.60 trillion.
During the trading day, the price of Afriland Properties Plc went up by 50 Kobo to N20.50 per unit from N20.00 per unit.
Yesterday, the volume of securities transacted by investors slumped by 85.1 per cent to 112,218 units from 747,429 units, the value of securities fell by 95.2 per cent to 4.6 million from 9.4 million, and the number of deals decreased by 40.5 per cent to 25 deals from 42 deals.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, trailed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units exchanged for N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 79.9 million units worth N5.8 billion.
GNI Plc also finished the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units transacted 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 sold for N415.7 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira improved its value against the United States Dollar by N2.78 or 0.21 per cent to N1,347.63/$1 in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Thursday, August 20, from the previous day’s N1,350.41/$1.
Also, the domestic currency gained 43 Kobo against the Pound Sterling in the official market yesterday to trade at N1,838.70/£1 compared with the preceding session’s N1,839.13/£1, but lost 66 Kobo against the Euro to finish at N1,574.97/€1, in contrast to Wednesday’s N1,574.31/€1.
At the GTBank forex counter, the Naira depreciated against the US Dollar yesterday by N1 to close at N1,358/$1 versus the previous session’s N1,357/$1, while at the parallel market, it remained unchanged at N1,390/$1.
Daily FX update released by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) showed that interbank turnover at the official window increased by 0.22 per cent to $371.788 million from $370.98 million, with the number of deals up to 134 from 100.
Transactions were consummated between N1,347 and N1,351.5000 during the trading session.
As for the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin (BTC) topped $75,000 in the latest rally amid euphoria over a US Treasury liquidity signal from the buyback plan, rising by 8.8 per cent to $75,371.36.
The US Treasury Department has decided to at least double liquidity-support buyback operations for longer-dated nominal coupon securities. This applies in the 10- to 30-year segment.
Additional catalysts included the latest crypto proposal by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), while President Donald Trump, after meeting with prominent crypto executives, urged Congress to pass what he calls a fair version of the Clarity Act before year-end.
Further, Ripple (XRP) rose by 18.7 per cent to $1.30, Cardano (ADA) grew by 13.9 per cent to $0.2086, Dogecoin (DOGE) improved by 10.8 per cent to $0.0826, Solana (SOL) expanded by 6.5 per cent to $90.37, Binance Coin (BNB) soared by 6.3 per cent to $664.00, Ethereum (ETH) jumped by 5.2 per cent to $2,363.26, and TRON (TRX) climbed by 1.5 per cent to $0.3379, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 apiece.
By Dipo Olowookere
For the eighth straight session, the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) closed lower, losing 0.32 per cent at the close of business on Thursday as a result of continued sell-offs.
Yesterday, the financial and energy sectors came under selling pressure as investors’ appetite for domestic equities waned, with attention turning to the 2027 presidential campaigns, which kicked off on Wednesday.
The energy index shed 2.49 per cent, the insurance sector depreciated by 0.79 per cent, and the banking segment declined by 0.41 per cent. But the consumer goods space gained 0.10 per cent, while the industrial goods counter closed flat.
When the market closed for the day, the All-Share Index (ASI) contracted by 712.67 points to 240,037.80 points from 240,750.47 points, and the market capitalisation decreased by N439 billion to N154.978 trillion from N155.417 trillion.
International Energy Insurance slumped by 9.85 per cent to N4.30, Coronation Insurance dropped 9.84 per cent to trade at N2.20, Fortis Global slipped by 9.76 per cent to N1.85, AVA Capital crashed by 7.89 per cent to N7.00, and Zichis shrank by 7.36 per cent to N17.00.
On the other side, Haldane McCall rose by 9.38 per cent to N3.85, Trans-Nationwide Express jumped by 8.90 per cent to N3.06, McNichols appreciated by 8.33 per cent to N5.20, Cutix gained 2.56 per cent to close at N2.40, and Veritas Kapital expanded by 1.52 per cent to N1.34.
Business Post reports that Customs Street recorded 14 advancing stocks and 29 declining stocks, representing a negative market breadth index and weak investor sentiment.
A total of 2.9 billion shares worth N34.0 billion were transacted in 34,725 deals during the session versus the 1.2 billion shares valued at N37.8 billion traded in 34,546 deals at midweek. This showed that the trading value moderated by 10.05 per cent, while the trading volume and number of deals increased by 141.67 per cent and 0.59 per cent apiece.
Fortis Global Insurance was on top of the activity chart yesterday, with a turnover of 2.6 billion equities valued at N5.2 billion. Sterling Holdings exchanged 28.1 million shares worth N211.4 million, Trans-Nationwide Express transacted 21.7 million stocks for N66.2 million, UBA sold 17.9 million equities worth N803.7 million, and First Holdco traded 15.7 million shares valued at N2.0 billion.
