Economy
Investors Mop up Nigerian Stocks on Economic Optimism
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited witnessed a 0.10 per cent growth on Monday amid optimism that the trip of President Bola Tinubu to Qatar over the weekend will yield positive results.
At the Nigeria-Qatar Business and Investment Forum in Doha, Mr Tinubu assured Qatari investors that they would not face any bottleneck while attempting to repatriate their funds.
This assurance was welcomed by stock investors, who saw light at the end of the tunnel for the nation’s economy, which is currently suffering because of the shortage in the supply of foreign exchange (FX) into the market.
Since the inception of the government of President Tinubu, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has made efforts to clear the forex backlogs of about $7 billion, mainly from investors whose funds are trapped in the country.
Mr Tinubu’s assurance gave hope to foreign portfolio investors (FPIs), who joined their local counterparts to mop up more equities on the exchange, especially in the industrial goods sector, which closed higher by 1.58 per cent.
It offset the losses posted by the others, as the consumer goods, banking, and insurance indices depreciated by 1.20 per cent, 0.46 per cent, and 0.19 per cent, respectively, while the energy counter closed flat.
It was observed that the market capitalisation of the NGX grew yesterday by 3.43 per cent or N1.855 trillion due to the listing of Transcorp Power shares, closing at N55.890 trillion compared with last Friday’s N54.035 trillion.
However, the All-Share Index (ASI) recorded a marginal gain of 0.10 per cent or 95.91 points to settle at 98,847.89 points versus the preceding session’s 98,751.98 points.
The trading volume, value, and the number of deals increased on Monday by 16.87 per cent, 192.65 per cent, and 17.24 per cent apiece because traders bought and sold 429.6 million shares valued at N19.9 billion in 10,749 deals versus the 367.6 million shares worth N6.8 billion traded in 9,168 deals last Friday.
Transcorp emerged as the most traded equity yesterday with a turnover of 203.4 million units valued at N3.2 billion and was trailed by its scion, Transcorp Power, which sold 40.0 million units worth N10.6 billion. UBA traded 19.6 million stocks for N448.0 million, AIICO Insurance transacted 12.7 million equities valued at N13.1 million, and Access Holdings exchanged 12.4 million shares worth N259.9 million.
Business Post reports that the market breadth index was at equilibrium at the close of transactions after recording 25 price gainers and 25 price losers.
Transcorp gained 9.94 per cent to sell at N15.70, PZ Cussons appreciated by 9.93 per cent to N37.10, Neimeth expanded by 9.88 per cent to N1.89, Juli soared by 9.87 per cent to N4.12, and Consolidated Hallmark advanced by 9.29 per cent to N1.53.
On the flip side, the trio of Vitafoam, Dangote Sugar, and Unity Bank lost 10.00 per cent each to trade at N22.95, N53.10, and N1.98, respectively, while NASCON shed 8.55 per cent to N53.50 and MTN Nigeria dropped 7.82 per cent to N185.00.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The duo of 11 Plc and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc helped flip the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange from a three-day losing streak to a 0.27 per cent gain on Thursday, August 13.
11 Plc, which used to be known as Mobil Nigeria, garnered N22.28 to close at N245.03 per unit compared with the preceding day’s N222.75 per unit, and CSCS Plc appreciated by N3.76 to N109.76 per share from N106.00 per share.
The gains offset the N10.00 loss recorded by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, closing at N160.00 per unit compared with N170.00 per unit it finished at midweek.
When the bourse closed for the day, the market capitalisation increased by N7.31 billion to N2.727 trillion from N2.720 trillion, and the NASD Security Index (NSI) went up by 12.17 points to 4,544.20 points from 4,532.03 points.
Yesterday, the volume of securities exchanged by investors skyrocketed by 1,173.8 per cent to 1.9 million units from 150,340 units, the value of securities jumped by 1,029.5 per cent to N210.8 million from N18.7 million, and the number of deals soared by 6.3 per cent to 34 deals from 32 deals.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active 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 valued at N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 79.1 million units exchanged for N5.7 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 sold for N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units transacted for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units traded for N415.7 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira-US Dollar exchange rate remained unchanged in the black market segment of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Thursday, August 13, at N1,395/$1.
But at the GTBank forex desk, the Nigerian currency gained N3 against the greenback during the session to settle at N1,367/$1, in contrast to Wednesday’s rate of N1,370/$1.
Similarly, the local currency further appreciated against the Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) yesterday by N2.93 or 0.22 per cent to trade at N1,357.65/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,360.58/$1.
Equally, the Nigerian Naira improved its value against the Pound Sterling at the official market by N6.94 to quote at N1,834.05, in contrast to the preceding session’s N1,840.99/£1, and against the Euro, it firmed up by N5.01 to close at N1,567.00/€1 versus Wednesday’s N1,572.01/€1.
Data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) revealed that interbank FX transactions plunged by 53 per cent to $79.097 million from $168.758 million, as banks recorded a sharp cutback in customers’ US dollar demand, with the number of deals down to 98 from 190.
The apex bank announced the removal of restrictions preventing financial institutions that accessed its Standing Lending Facility (SLF) from participating in primary government securities transactions and FX.
Under a revised framework, institutions that accessed the CBN’s discount window will no longer lose access to the facility because of their participation in the NAFEM or primary auctions of government securities.
As for the cryptocurrency market, prices fell as the expected US inflation report failed to push the asset beyond its established trading range.
The US Bureau of Labour Statistics reported that headline inflation rose 0.1 per cent month over month in July and slowed to 3.4 per cent annually from 3.5 per cent in June. Core CPI, which excludes food and energy, increased 0.2 per cent during the month and 2.5 per cent from a year earlier.
Cardano (ADA) lost 1.3 per cent to close at $0.1821, TRON (TRX) also shrank by 1.3 per cent to $0.3335, Solana (SOL) fell by 1.0 per cent to $75.60, Dogecoin (DOGE) also declined by 1.0 per cent to $0.06981, Bitcoin (BTC) dropped 0.9 per cent to sell at $63,152.59, Ethereum (ETH) dipped by 0.8 per cent to $1,877.07, Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 0.7 per cent to $608.42, and Ripple (XRP) depreciated by 0.5 per cent to $1.00, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.
By Dipo Olowookere
Weak investor sentiment further crumbled Nigeria’s stock exchange by 0.39 per cent on Thursday, as sell-offs persisted.
Data showed that all the major sectors of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited ended in the red, with the consumer goods index down by 1.22 per cent. The industrial goods space retreated by 0.75 per cent, the insurance segment depreciated by 0.55 per cent, the banking sector tumbled by 0.27 per cent, and the energy counter receded by 0.07 per cent.
At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) went down by 949.71 points to 243,017.38 points from 243,967.09 points, and the market capitalisation dipped by N613 billion to N156.881 trillion from N157.494 trillion.
Unilever Nigeria led the losers’ chart after it depleted by 9.97 per cent to N118.30, Chellarams dropped 9.66 per cent to close at N10.75, NDIF slumped by 9.55 per cent to N147.70, DAAR Communications crashed by 9.25 per cent to N1.57, and Cornerstone Insurance slipped by 9.09 per cent to N5.00.
On the flip side, International Energy Insurance topped the gainers’ log after it grew by 10.00 per cent to N4.84, John Holt expanded by 9.89 per cent to N10.00, Trans-Nationwide Express rose by 9.75 per cent to N2.59, SUNU Assurances gained 8.48 per cent to settle at N3.58, and NEM Insurance appreciated by 6.25 per cent to N34.00.
Business Post reports that there were 16 appreciating stocks and 41 depreciating stocks, representing a negative market breadth index.
Yesterday, 4.2 billion equities worth N50.7 billion were transacted in 41,454 deals versus the 1.5 billion equities valued at N20.9 billion that exchanged hands in 39,085 deals at midweek.
This indicated that the trading volume, value, and number of deals surged by 180.00 per cent, 142.58 per cent, and 6.06 per cent, respectively.
Cornerstone Insurance was the busiest equity on Thursday, with a turnover of 3.6 billion units valued at N18.4 billion, VFD Group exchanged 151.8 million units worth N1.9 billion, Chams sold 33.8 million units for N153.7 million, First Holdco transacted 28.3 million units worth N3.9 billion, and CMFC traded 24.6 million units valued at N78.2 million.
