Economy
Investors Lose N261b as Stock Market Yet to Record First Gain in 2019
By Dipo Olowookere
Trading activities on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) closed in the negative territory for the sixth consecutive trading session.
Business Post reports that the local bourse is yet to record its first gain in 2019 as investors, mostly foreign portfolio investors, continue to pull out of the market to observe happenings in the country from the sidelines.
This is because the anxiety created in the country by political gladiators is making some investors to jump out of the bus, while news of the exit of Teleology from 9mobile is also giving some of them something to worry about, especially concerning the repayment of the $1.2 billion syndicated loan the telco collected from the banks trading their shares on NSE few years ago, which plunged it into crisis.
At the close of market on Wednesday, the banking index reacted to this with a decline of 0.28 percent on the back of losses posted mostly by the lenders involved in the loan; GTBank, Access Bank, UBA, First Bank and Diamond Bank.
However, the huge loss of 4.35 percent recorded by the Industrial sector was mainly responsible for the bearish closure of the stock market yesterday.
Also, the Insurance index fell by 3.06 percent, while the Consumer Goods index and the Oil/Gas index appreciated by 0.74 percent and 0.15 percent respectively.
When market activities were wrapped up in the midweek session, the market depreciated by 2.33 percent, dragging the year-to-date loss to 6.66 percent.
Specifically, the All-Share Index (ASI) went down by 699.35 points to settle at 29,336.80 points, while the market capitalisation decreased in value by N261 billion to stay at N10.940 trillion from N11.201 trillion it was the previous day.
Business Post reports further that the stock market registered 19 losers against just 14 gainers at the close of business yesterday.
The heaviest price loser was Dangote Cement, which suffered a loss of N16 to finish for the day at N170 per share.
It was followed by GTBank, which crashed by 70 kobo to finish at N31.30k per share, and Eterna, which went down by 40 kobo to end at N3.95k per share.
Custodian Investment and Access Bank both lost by 35 kobo each to close at N5.60k per share and N5.50k apiece.
Conversely, it was a good day for Unilever Nigeria as its share price rose by N3.25k to settle at N37 per unit.
Julius Berger appreciated by N2.35k to close at N25.85k per share, while Flour Mills grew by 85 kobo to end at N18.85k per share.
Zenith Bank increased its share value by 70 kobo to finish at N21 per share, while Mobil Oil Nigeria garnered 40 kobo to close at N184 per share.
Despite the loss recorded on Wednesday, the market recorded a rise in the volume of shares exchanged by investors, though the value dropped.
The volume of shares traded increased by 8.62 percent from 216.3 million to 234.9 million, while the value went down by 15.88 percent from N2.7 billion to N2.3 billion.
It was observed that investors continued with the offloading of Diamond Bank shares, closing on Wednesday as the most active stock on the exchange with a turnover of 54.7 million units sold for N103.9 million.
It was followed by GTBank, which exchanged 27.7 million units worth N865.7 million, and Zenith Bank, which transacted 25.8 million units of its stock for N526.3 million. FBN Holdings sold 21.5 million shares valued at N152.1 million, while Transcorp traded 15.5 million equities worth N18 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange closed flat on Wednesday, August 5, as the market witnessed weaker trading activity with only two deals executed.
In the midweek session, the volume of securities exchanged by investors dropped 99.9 per cent to 802 units from the 1.6 million units recorded on Tuesday. The value of securities further decreased by 99.6 per cent to N208,240 from the preceding session’s N47.6 million, and the number of deals significantly went down by 93.9 per cent to two deals from the 33 deals recorded a day earlier.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc with 76.9 million units transacted for N5.5 billion.
GNI Plc was also the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units exchanged 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 valued at N415.7 million.
There were no price gainers or losers yesterday.
As a result, the market capitalisation stood unmoving at N2.739 trillion, while the NASD Security Index (NSI) remained unchanged at 4,563.96 points.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira slid against the US Dollar by N2.28 or 0.17 per cent in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Wednesday, August 5, to N1,363.85/$1 from N1,362.55/$1.
The local currency also declined against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N5.97 to close at N1,837.38/£1 compared with Tuesday’s closing rate of N1,831.41/£1, and against the Euro, it crashed by N6.54 to quote at N1,575.25/€1 versus the preceding session’s N1,568.71/€1.
But at the black market, the Nigerian Naira traded flat against the greenback yesterday at N1,400/$1, and also remained unchanged at the GTBank FX desk at N1,373/$1.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says rates have narrowed to below two per cent, while the country’s external reserves have risen above $52.5 billion, reflecting the impact of its ongoing monetary and foreign exchange reforms.
CBN Governor Yemi Cardoso, represented by the Acting Director of Corporate Communications and Investor Relations, Mrs Hakama Sidi-Ali, disclosed this on Tuesday during the CBN Fair in Gombe. He noted that reforms introduced since 2023 had significantly reduced the disparity between the official FX market and the parallel market.
“The Naira continues to strengthen, with the spread between official and Bureau de Change rates now below two per cent,” he said, adding that reserves at $52.5 billion were supported by sustained inflows and renewed investor confidence in the economy.
Interbank FX transactions slid as weaker market activities dropped total Dollar volume exchanged to $75.35 million, a 51.8 per cent decline from $156.23 million in turnover quoted at the previous close.
The deals at the NFEM window also fell as data from the central bank put Wednesday’s quote at 82 from 139.
In the cryptocurrency market, major were down as global risk sentiment softened as a key world equity index slipped and chipmakers fell.
The MSCI All Country World Index snapped a five-day run to fall 0.2 per cent as chipmakers retreated on both sides of the Pacific. South Korea’s Kospi, a bellwether for the AI trade, dropped 4.4 per cent.
Ripple (XRP) depleted by 1.7 per cent to $1.05, Binance Coin (BNB) decreased by 1.0 per cent to $594.87, Cardano (ADA) depreciated by 0.9 per cent to $0.1884, TRON (TRX) shrank by 0.2 per cent to $0.3261, Solana (SOL) crumbled by 0.1 per cent to $74.00, and Dogecoin (DOGE) went down by 0.1 per cent to $0.0697.
On the flip side, Ethereum (ETH) gained 2.3 per cent to trade at $1,911.41, and Bitcoin (BTC) rose by 0.8 per cent to $64,759.28, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.
By Dipo Olowookere
The domestic stock exchange rebounded by 0.05 per cent on Wednesday on the back of renewed bargain-hunting by investors, though the level of activity waned.
After bleeding for a few days, the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited heaved a sigh of relief yesterday, as the All-Share Index (ASI) gained 109.41 points to close at 244,912.24 points compared with the previous day’s 244,802.83 points, and the market capitalisation garnered N71 billion to settle at N158.087 trillion versus Tuesday’s N158.016 trillion.
Business Post reports that despite the rebound recorded by Customs Street at midweek, the market breadth index remained negative, as there were 20 price advancers and 29 price decliners, implying bearish investor sentiment.
Linkage Assurance appreciated by 9.94 per cent to N1.77, AVA Capital rose by 9.55 per cent to N10.90, Fortis Global Insurance advanced by 7.69 per cent to N2.80, McNichols gained 7.34 per cent to finish at N5.85, and Coronation Insurance surged by 5.51 per cent to N2.49.
Conversely, Honeywell Flour depreciated by 9.94 per cent to N16.30, PZ Cussons gave up 9.94 per cent to trade at N74.75, Zichis crashed by 9.74 per cent to N20.76, Learn Africa slipped by 9.62 per cent to N9.40, and Neimeth tumbled by 8.33 per cent to N8.25.
The busiest equity was FCMB, with a turnover of 369.2 million units valued at N4.1 billion. Chams transacted 46.7 million units worth N201.8 million, First Holdco transacted 43.5 million units for N5.7 billion, Access Holdings sold 29.8 million units worth N778.0 million, and Linkage Assurance exchanged 19.6 million units valued at N33.5 million.
At the close of transactions, market participants bought and sold 824.1 million units worth N25.5 billion in 48,114 deals, in contrast to the 1.6 billion units sold for N28.7 billion in 54,160 deals a day earlier, showing a shortfall in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 48.49 per cent, 11.15 per cent, and 11.16 per cent, respectively.
