Economy

Investors Limit Exposure to Stocks as Christmas Approaches

Published

4 years ago

20/12/2021

By Dipo Olowookere

Investors in the nation’s equity market are beginning to limit their exposure to stocks as their festive period draws closer.

Last week, a total of 1.3 billion shares worth N15.3 billion exchanged hands in 18,292 deals in contrast to the 2.6 billion shares worth N26.9 billion transacted in 20,848 deals a week earlier.

As usual, financial stocks led the activity chart with 899.8 million units worth N7.3 billion in 9,326 deals, contributing 68.32 per cent and 47.78 per cent to the total trading volume and value respectively.

Consumer goods equities trailed with 209.5 million units valued at N2.8 billion transacted in 2,866 deals, while conglomerates shares recorded a turnover of 93.8 million units worth N663.1 million in 485 deals.

The trio of FBN Holdings, International Breweries and Access Bank were the most traded equities in the week, with 469.9 million units worth N4.2 billion in 1,958 deals, contributing 35.68 per cent and 27.20 per cent to the total trading volume and value respectively.

“It is usual to have investors reduce their exposure to the market at this time of the year, especially when there is nothing special to trigger their buying interest,” an investor in the market, Mr Lekan Ajibade, told Business Post over the weekend.

A total of 32 shares were on the gainers’ table in the week, lower than 35 shares in the previous week, while the market closed with 28 depreciating equities, higher than 27 of the earlier week, with 96 stocks closing flat, higher than 94 recorded in the previous week.

The best-performing stock was Meyer as it gained 27.27 per cent to close at 42 kobo, Royal Exchange rose by 15.00 per cent to 69 kobo, FTN Cocoa grew by 13.51 per cent to 42 kobo, Pharma-Deko appreciated by 10.00 per cent to N2.20, while Custodian Investment jumped by 9.86 per cent to N7.80.

At the other side, Champion Breweries was the worst-performing stock after its value depreciated by 13.65 per cent to N2.34.

UPDC went down by 10.17 per cent to N1.06, eTranzact declined by 9.57 per cent to N1.89, Cutix fell by 9.43 per cent to N2.40, while UPDC REIT dropped 6.82 per cent to trade at N4.10.

Business Post reports that the All-Share Index and market capitalisation appreciated in the week by 1.12 per cent and 1.16 per cent to 42,353.31 points and N22.107 trillion respectively.

Similarly, all other indices finished higher with the exception of main board, banking, NGX AFR Bank Value, NGX AFR Div Yield, NGX MERI Growth and energy indices which depreciated by 0.22 per cent, 1.82 per cent, 2.23 per cent, 0.08 per cent, 0.85 per cent and 0.57 per cent respectively while the ASeM, growth and sovereign bond indices closed flat.

Economy

NASD Exchange Further Slips 0.39% as Sell-Offs Persist

Published

27 minutes ago

19/03/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange dropped for the third consecutive session on Wednesday, March 18, by 0.39 per cent due to continued sell-offs.

In what would be the final trading session of the week due to public holidays on Thursday and Friday for Eid-el-Fitr, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) further dipped by 16.14 points to 4,114.75 points from 4,130.89 points, and the market capitalisation lost N9.66 billion to close at N2.461 trillion versus the previous day’s N2.471 trillion.

FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc depreciated by N10.32 to sell at N112.00 per share versus N122.32 per share, NASD Plc dropped N4.50 to finish at N41.50 per unit compared with the previous session’s N46.00 per unit, and Geo-Fluids decreased by 9 Kobo to N3.02 per share from N3.11 per share.

On the flip side, Air Liquide Plc improved by N2.23 to N24.57 per unit from N22.34 per unit, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc advanced by 90 Kobo to N76.33 per share from N75.43 per share, Food Concepts Plc rose by 24 Kobo to N3.30 per unit from N3.06 per unit, UBN Property Plc surged by 20 Kobo to N2.18 per share from N1.98 per share, Impresit Bakalori Plc jumped 16 Kobo to N1.83 per unit from N1.67 per unit, and First Trust Mortgage Bank Plc added 14 Kobo to trade at N1.89 per share versus N1.75 per share.

During the trading day, the volume of securities went up by 43,404.4 per cent to 400.8 million units from 921,265 units, the value of securities grew by 2,108.7 per cent to N1.2 billion from N54.7 million, and the number of deals soared by 23.7 per cent to 47 deals from 38 deals.

CSCS Plc ended the day as the most traded stock by value (year-to-date) with 38.7 million units valued at N2.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units exchanged for N1.2 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 6.4 million units traded for N1.2 billion.

Resourcery Plc finished the session as the most traded stock by volume (year-to-date) with 1.1 billion units worth N415.7 million, trailed by Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units sold for N1.2 billion, and Geo-Fluids Plc with 131.1 million units valued at N505.6 million.

Economy

Aradel, Red Star Express, Others Crash NGX by 0.69%

Published

40 minutes ago

19/03/2026

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) experienced a pullback of 0.69 per cent as a result of profit-taking by investors, with shares in the banking and energy sectors mostly affected.

Data harvested by Business Post showed that the energy index was down by 4.58 per cent during the session, and the banking space lost 2.14 per cent.

They brought down the All-Share Index (ASI) by 1,402.56 points to 201,156.85 points from 202,559.41 points and shrank the market capitalisation by N900 billion to N129.126 trillion from N130.026 trillion.

Customs Street ended in red at midweek despite three of the five key sectors finishing in green. The consumer goods counter expanded by 1.19 per cent, the industrial goods index improved by 0.46 per cent, and the insurance sector grew by 0.43 per cent.

Red Star Express declined by 9.98 per cent to N25.70, Aradel Holdings went down by 9.68 per cent to N1,210.30, Presco lost 9.30 per cent to trade at N1,701.10, Living Trust Mortgage Bank crashed by 8.40 per cent to N4.80, and DAAR Communications dropped 7.50 per cent to end at N1.85.

On the flip side, Secure Electronic Technology gained 10.00 per cent to settle at N1.32, Guinness Nigeria rose by 9.92 per cent to N423.20, John Holt increased by 9.72 per cent to N11.85, Sovereign Trust Insurance surged by 9.57 per cent to N2.06, and Linkage Assurance chalked up 9.33 per cent to trade at N1.64.

Investor sentiment was weak yesterday after the bourse registered 33 price gainers and 38 price losers, indicating a negative market breadth index.

Market participants bought and sold 6.1 billion stocks valued at N130.1 billion in 58,562 deals compared with the 1.8 billion stocks worth N88.1 billion traded in 62,654 deals on Tuesday, representing a shortfall in the number of deals by 6.53 per cent, and a spike in the trading volume and value by 238.89 per cent and 47.67 per cent apiece.

The most active equity on Wednesday was eTranzact with 5.2 billion units sold for N24.3 billion, Wema Bank exchanged 111.4 million units worth N3.1 billion, Coronation Insurance transacted 96.4 million units valued at N303.9 million, Dangote Cement traded 75.2 million units for N56.5 billion, and Access Holdings exchanged 61.5 million units valued at N1.6 billion.

Economy

Naira Reverses Gains at NAFEX, Sheds N8.96 to Quote N1,353/$1

Published

1 hour ago

19/03/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira stumbled against the Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Wednesday, March 18, by N8.96 or 0.67 per cent to trade at N1,353.00/$1, in contrast to the previous day’s rate of N1,344.04/$1.

Also, the local currency weakened against the Pound Sterling in the spot market at midweek by N6.06 to sell for N1,801.93/£1 compared with Tuesday’s value of N1,795.87/£1, and lost N4.75 against the Euro to quote at N1,556.22/€1 versus the preceding day’s N1,551.46/€1.

However, the Nigerian currency gained N2 against the greenback yesterday at the GTBank forex desk to close at N1,363/$1 versus the N1,365/$1 it was exchanged for a day earlier, and traded flat in the parallel market at N1,395/$1.

Nigeria’s external reserves fell by $178 million over three consecutive international payments recorded by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), settling at $49.83 billion from $50.008 billion, indicating that there have been some interventions in the FX market for stability and liquidity.

While the wider outlook for the Naira is positive, potential disruptions to global oil supply have increased volatility in energy markets and could spike inflation with higher oil prices.

In the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin (BTC) slipped below $71,000 on Wednesday as Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell flagged rising oil prices amid the war in Iran as a new inflation risk. It sold at $70,538.58.

The US central bank held interest rates steady as expected, but during his post-meeting press conference, Mr Powell acknowledged that the recent surge in energy prices is already feeding into the central bank’s outlook.

He said rising oil prices “for sure showed up” in policymakers’ higher inflation outlook for this year, lifting their forecast to 2.7 per cent from 2.4 per cent.

Further, Ethereum (ETH) lost 6.3 per cent to trade at $2,178.56, Cardano (ADA) fell by 6.1 per cent to $0.2714, Dogecoin (DOGE) dropped 5.7 per cent to close at $0.0096, Solana (SOL) dipped 4.8 per cent to $89.83, Ripple (XRP) slumped by 3.8 per cent to $1.46, and Binance Coin (BNB) declined by 3.7 per cent to $648.61.

However, TRON (TRX) appreciated by 0.4 per cent to $0.3037, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.