Economy
Lagos, PH BDC Operators Trade Dollar at N464.50
By Adedapo Adesanya
Bureaux De Change (BDC) operators in Lagos and Port Harcourt sold the Dollar at N464.50 on Monday as the Naira saw no improvement despite interventions from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
According to the Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON), in Lagos, the local currency made a 50 kobo loss on the greenback to close at N464.50/$1 versus the previous rate of N464/$1.
But it appreciated against the Pound by N7 to close at N596/£1 as against N603/£1 and gained N10 on the Euro to close at N545/€1 in contrast to the previous rate of N555/€1.
At the Port Harcourt BDC market, the domestic currency depreciated by 50 kobo against the Dollar to close at N464.50/$1 versus N464/$1 and against the Pound, it remained stable at N595/£1 but lost N1 on the Euro to end at N545/€1 compared with the last session’s N544/€1.
In Abuja, the local currency maintained stability against the American currency at N464/$1 and on the Pound and Euro, it extended the stability at N595/£1 and N535/€1 respectively.
In Kano, the local currency was stable against the US currency at N465/$1. It further traded flat against the Pound and the Euro at N600/£1 and N547/€1 respectively.
The exchange rate of the Naira/Dollar at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) window remained unchanged for five consecutive sessions at N386/$1 on Monday.
This was helped by the 18.2 per cent or $15.21 million decline in the demand of forex at the market segment to $68.14 million from the previous session’s $83.35 million.
At the interbank segment of the market, the Naira/Dollar exchange rate remained stable at N379/$1.
At the black market yesterday, the local currency traded flat against the greenback at N465/$1 but depreciated by N3 on the Pound at N603/£1 versus N600/£1 and lost N7 on the Euro to N555/€1 from N548/€1.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange fell by 1.60 per cent on Tuesday, July 28, as investors booked profit from some of the best-performing stocks in the last trading sessions.
Investor sentiment was weak yesterday, after the bourse finished with three price losers and two price gainers.
FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria lost N14.80 during the session to sell for N135.00 per unit compared with the previous session’s N149.80 per unit, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc slid by N3.72 to sell at N89.91 per share versus N93.63 per share, and MRS Oil Plc declined by 50 Kobo to N148.00 per unit from N148.50 per unit.
On the flip side, Okitipupa Plc appreciated by N9.57 to quote at N257.57 per share versus Monday’s price of N248.00 per share, and Afriland Properties Plc grew by 89 Kobo to N19.90 per unit from N19.01 per unit.
At the close of business, the market capitalisation of the trading platform went down by N41.69 billion to N2.564 trillion from N2.606 trillion, and the NASD Security Index (NSI) dipped by 69.45 points to 4,273.15 points from 4,342.60 points.
Yesterday, the volume of securities traded by investors surged by 1,000.7 per cent to 6.7 million units from 604,565 units, the value of securities soared by 337.3 per cent to N85.8 million from the preceding session’s N19.6 million, and the number of deals rose by 54.6 per cent to 51 deals from 33 deals.
On a year-to-date basis, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc ended the day as the most traded stock by value, with a turnover of 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 75.9 million units exchanged for N5.4 billion.
GNI Plc was also the 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 transacted for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units traded for N415.7 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira slid against the US Dollar by N3.32 or 0.24 per cent in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Tuesday, July 28, to exchange at N1,365.53/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,362.21/$1.
Equally, the local currency went south against the Pound Sterling in the official market yesterday by N2.38 to close at N1,816.43/£1 versus Monday’s closing price of N1,814.05/£1, and against the Euro, it depleted by N2.69 to trade at N1,552.88/€1, in contrast to the preceding session’s N1,550.19/€1.
However, the Nigerian Naira appreciated against the United States Dollar at the GTbank FX desk by N2 during the session to sell for N1,370/$1 compared with the preceding day’s N1,372/$1, and at the parallel market, it remained unchanged at N1,400/$1.
The country’s external reserves declined after the FX injections by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) at the currency market last week.
Interbank FX turnover rose sharply on the day to $102.954 million on Tuesday, reflecting a 160 per cent surge from $39.587 million recorded during the previous trading session.
Driving the huge US Dollar volume turnover on Tuesday, the apex bank reported that the number of FX deals at the interbank market advanced to 121 from 55.
In the cryptocurrency market, coins were largely insulated despite recent tech stock routs, which suggests its tight correlation with AI-linked equities may be weakening, even as regulatory uncertainty and upcoming Federal Reserve and economic data loom over markets.
There is uncertainty about the US Federal Reserve rate decision due on Wednesday, as most observers expect the bank to keep rates unchanged, while some expect a hike in borrowing costs.
Cardano (ADA) appreciated by 4.5 per cent to $0.1639, Ripple (XRP) grew by 2.6 per cent to $1.08, Ethereum (ETH) rose by 1.7 per cent to $1,917.05, Bitcoin (BTC) got a 1.4 per cent lift to sell at $64,374.04, and Binance Coin (BNB) expanded by 0.9 per cent to $570.27.
Further, Solana (SOL) improved by 0.8 per cent to $73.93, Dogecoin (DOGE) climbed higher by 0.6 per cent to $0.0707, and TRON (TRX) advanced by 0.3 per cent to $0.3255, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 apiece.
By Dipo Olowookere
Renewed buying pressure revived the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited by 0.50 per cent on Tuesday, reversing the previous day’s loss.
Interest in Nigerian equities slightly rose during the trading day, with the volume of transactions up by 6.10 per cent to 676.9 million units from the preceding session’s 638.0 million units.
However, the value of trades slumped by 36.36 per cent to N36.4 billion from N57.2 billion, and the number of deals decreased by 22.22 per cent to 55,412 deals from Monday’s 71,240 deals.
Access Holdings led the activity chart yesterday, with a turnover of 87.5 million shares worth N2.4 billion. FCMB traded 68.7 million stocks valued at N810.6 million, Chams sold 31.0 million equities for N148.8 million, United Capital transacted 29.7 million shares valued at N537.5 million, and Zenith Bank traded 26.5 million stocks worth N3.4 billion.
On Tuesday, there were 36 price gainers and 23 price losers, indicating a positive market breadth index and strong investor sentiment.
Lasaco Assurance led the advancers’ chart after it chalked up 10.00 per cent to trade at N2.20, Linkage Assurance appreciated by 9.93 per cent to N1.66, Trans-Nationwide Express also gained 9.93 per cent to quote at N3.10, Sunu Assurances rose by 9.88 per cent to N3.56, and CMFC grew by 9.86 per cent to N3.79.
The laggards’ group was led by Meyer, which shrank by 9.97 per cent to N16.70. Mecure slipped by 9.94 per cent to N56.20, ABC Transport crumbled by 9.93 per cent to N6.35, C&I Leasing crashed by 8.66 per cent to N5.80, and Haldane McCall dipped by 8.21 per cent to N3.02.
Business Post reports that the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 745.81 points to 247,984.55 points from 247,238.74 points, and the market capitalisation increased by N482 billion to N159.993 trillion from N159.511 trillion.
