Economy
Investors Further Lose N79bn as Prices of 19 Stocks Fall
By Dipo Olowookere
Transactions on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) further closed bearish on Wednesday as investors still await the positive news to move the market to the green territory.
Prices of stocks at the market continue to fall as a result of the decision of some investors to take profit despite the dust raised by the 2019 general elections settling down.
Even news of the reduction in the monetary policy rate to 13.50 percent from 14 percent yesterday by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) failed to excite traders.
At the close of the midweek trading session, the stock market went down by 0.67 percent to increase the year-to-date loss to 1.91 percent.
Business Post observed that apart from the industrial goods sector, which marginally rose by 0.03 percent, every other sector closed in red.
The insurance index dropped 1.32 percent, the banking index lost 0.9 8 percent, the oil and gas index fell by 0.84 percent, while the consumer goods index declined by 0.39 percent.
The market breadth, which ended negative again, finished with 19 price losers as against 11 price gainers.
Seplat dominated the losers’ chart with N10 of its share value lost to close at N540 per unit.
It was followed by Presco, which depreciated by N2.50k to end at N62 per share, and Stanbic IBTC, which also dropped N2.50k to settle at N46 per unit.
Guinness Nigeria lost N1.55k to close at N62.45k per share, while GTBank went down by N1.40k to quote at N36 per unit.
Conversely, Okomu Oil finished the day with N1 added to its share price to close at N80 per unit on Wednesday.
Cadbury Nigeria rose by 35 kobo to finish at N11.20k per share, while Zenith Bank appreciated by 30 kobo to end at N22 per share.
Union Bank garnered 20 kobo to settle at N7.10k per share, while Cutix increased by 18 kobo to close at N2.03k per share.
An analysis of the market indices showed that the All-Share Index (ASI) depreciated yesterday by 209.41 points to close at 30,829.45 points, while the market capitalisation decreased by N79 billion to settle at N11.592 trillion.
On the activity chart, the volume of shares traded by investors yesterday decreased by 8.54 percent to 131.4 million from 143.7 million, while the value dropped by 16.58 percent to N1.4 billion from N1.7 billion.
Financial stocks dominated the activity log, with Zenith Bank recording the highest turnover of 27.9 million shares worth N606.6 million.
Sterling Bank exchanged 25 million units for N58.7 million, while Access Bank traded 16.2 million equities worth N104.1 million.
UBA sold 11.4 million shares for N88.5 million, while FCMB transacted 7.4 million equities valued at N14.4 million.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The Debt Management Office (DMO) on Monday allotted bonds worth N929.3 billion to investors from the N1.7 trillion bids it received from subscribers.
The exercise, which took place on Monday, July 20, 2026, was oversubscribed by market participants, reflecting the confidence investors have in the government’s ability to redeem the debt instrument on maturity.
On offer for sale for the July auction was N1.2 trillion worth of the FGN bonds, but the DMO allotted below this, despite receiving bids above the offer.
The papers were offered in 10-year, 15-year, and 20-year tenors, at N400 billion each.
For the decade-old note, investors staked N444.47 billion, but the debt office sold N245.73 billion at an 18.34 per cent coupon rate. For the one and a half-decade-old paper, bids valued at N518.00 billion were received by the DMO, with a non-competitive bid of N50.00 billion, with N302.13 billion allotted to investors at 18.40 per cent, and for the two-decade paper, the DMO got competitive bids of N665.19 billion and N381.46 billion was sold to bondholders at 18.35 per cent.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Yemi Cardoso, disclosed that Nigeria’s external reserves had risen to $52.5 billion, enough to finance about nine months of imports.
He disclosed this on Tuesday at the end of the 306th meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) held in Abuja, where the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) retained the benchmark interest rate at 26.50 per cent as well as the standing facilities corridor at +50/-450 basis points around the MPR.
Similarly, the Cash Reserve Requirement (CRR) was maintained at 45 per cent for Deposit Money Banks, 16 per cent for Merchant Banks, and 75 per cent for non-Treasury Single Account (TSA) public sector deposits.
Speaking on FX developments, the central banker said at the $52 billion level, the country’s external reserves were significantly above the internationally recommended threshold of three months of import cover.
On the Naira exchange rate, Mr Cardoso said the foreign exchange market had deepened and was now operating on a transparent willing-buyer, willing-seller basis.
He said the apex bank remained committed to maintaining a liquid and functional foreign exchange market, adding that daily market turnover sometimes exceeded $1 billion.
According to him, the long-term stability of the naira would depend on key economic fundamentals, including increased oil exports, foreign direct investment, and improved domestic productivity to reduce dependence on imports.
He also added that the MPC welcomed the federal government’s renewed commitment to stronger policy coordination, particularly collaboration between fiscal and monetary authorities, which he said had helped reduce the impact of the Middle East crisis on the Nigerian economy.
Mr Cardoso said members of the committee also commended efforts to improve crude oil production and urged relevant agencies to intensify reforms in other sectors, including solid minerals, to boost government revenue.
On the regulatory forbearance granted to banks during the COVID-19 period, he reiterated that this had been discontinued because it had served its purpose.
According to him, the policy had “outlived its time” and was no longer necessary in assessing the health of the banking sector.
“Forbearance, we felt, had outlived its time. Many of you will recall this is something that came as a result of COVID. And now we are in 2026; we did not see the reason why that should continue to form part of the analysis of the banking system,” he said.
Mr Cardoso explained that banks had begun recalibrating their portfolios following the end of the policy, leading to a temporary reduction in outstanding risk assets.
He, however, assured that the development was part of a transition towards a stronger and more sustainable credit environment.
“It reflects a transition to a more sustainable and better quality credit environment, which is what we all want. We don’t want unanticipated shocks that come in a boom-and-bust fashion,” he said.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange extended its recent positive run by 1.17 per cent on Tuesday, July 21, triggered by appreciation seen in four bellwethers.
Leading the pack was FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, which added N12.00 to its value to close at N153.15 per share compared with the previous day’s N141.15 per share. NASD Plc appreciated by N1.90 to N36.00 per unit from N34.10 per unit, Food Concepts Plc improved by 23 Kobo to N2.48 per share from N2.25 per share, and Afriland Properties Plc grew by a marginal 1 Kobo to N15.01 per unit from N15.00 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation of the bourse increased by N30.40 billion to N2.637 trillion from Monday’s N2.606 trillion, and the NASD Security Index (NSI) gained 50.70 points to finish at 4,393.97 points, in contrast to the 4,343.27 points it ended a day earlier.
The unlisted securities exchange recorded a price loser yesterday, and it was Geo-Fluids Plc, which shed 1 Kobo to settle at N2.30 per share versus N2.31 per share.
During the trading day, the volume of securities traded by market participants on Tuesday dropped 99.4 per cent to 322,147 units from the previous day’s 52.6 million units, the value of securities dipped by 89.8 per cent to N19.4 million from the preceding session’s N191.2 million, and the number of deals contracted by 3.6 per cent to 27 deals from 28 deals.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc ended the day as the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units traded for N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units transacted for N6.5 billion, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc with 75.4 million units exchanged for N5.3 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the day as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units valued at N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units sold for N415.7 million.
