Economy
Local Equities Sustain Marginal Growth on Positive Investor Sentiment
By Dipo Olowookere
The stock market in Nigeria further closed marginally by 0.07 per cent on Thursday as investors continue to trade cautiously, with a focus now on the release of first-quarter earnings of listed firms.
Some of the big organisations have started to announce dates for their board meetings for the approval of the Q1 2021 earnings and before the end of the month, investors will have a knowledge of how the companies performed in the first three months of the year.
But before then, investors are comfortable watching the equity market from the sidelines and just cherry-pick shares with the prospects of delivering short to mid-term value.
This reflected in the level of activity, which was weak as investors traded 145.3 million stocks worth N1.6 billion in 3,525 deals compared with the 356.5 million equities worth N4.2 billion traded in 6,130 deals at the midweek trading session.
This indicated that the trading volume reduced by 59.23 per cent, the trading value went down by 62.43 per cent and the number of deals declined by 42.50 per cent.
However, at the close of business yesterday, the All-Share Index (ASI) slightly moved up by 25.80 points to 38,799.83 points from 38,774.03 points, while the market capitalisation appreciated by N13 billion to N20.300 trillion from N20.287 trillion.
Investor sentiment was positive as shares of 13 companies closed in green compared with the 12 that ended in the red.
Consolidated Hallmark Insurance was the best-performing stock of the day with a price appreciation of 9.68 per cent to close at 34 kobo.
Japaul gained 9.43 per cent to close at 58 kobo, Oando appreciated by 5.16 per cent to N3.26, AIICO Insurance improved by 5.00 per cent to N1.26, while Zenith Bank gained 3.81 per cent to sell for N21.80.
On the flip side, Royal Exchange closed as the worst-performing equity after its value went down by 7.69 per cent to 36 kobo.
Jaiz Bank depreciated by 6.06 per cent to 62 kobo, Honeywell Flour dropped 5.04 per cent to N1.13, Linkage Assurance depleted by 4.76 per cent to 80 kobo, while Daar Communications declined by 4.76 per cent to 20 kobo.
The most active stock yesterday was FBN Holdings as it sold 21.9 million units valued at N157.2 million, with GTBank trailing for trading 20.5 million units worth N589.2 million.
Zenith Bank exchanged 17.6 million equities for N379.9 million, Access Bank transacted 8.6 million stocks worth N68.9 million, while Japaul sold 7.6 million shares for N4.3 million.
A look at the performance of the showed that the industrial goods closed flat, while the consumer goods counter lost 0.20 per cent, with the banking, insurance and energy sectors closing higher by 2.19 per cent, 0.60 per cent and 0.40 per cent respectively.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Three securities lifted the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.38 per cent on Friday, July 3, with the NASD Security Index (NSI) up by 58.80 points to 4,307.26 points from 4,248.46 points, and the market capitalisation closing higher by N35.30 billion to N2.585 trillion from N2.549 trillion.
The price gainers were led by 11 Plc, which expanded by N20.05 to close at N220.55 per share compared with the previous day’s N200.50 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc increased by N5.36 to N151.82 per unit from N146.46 per unit, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc appreciated by N3.52 to N90.74 per share from N87.22 per share.
Yesterday, the value of transactions surged by 1,431.2 per cent to N160.1 million from the preceding session’s N10.5 million, and the volume of trades rose by 303.7 per cent to 1.8 million units from 440,653 units, while the number of deals decreased by 34.4 per cent to 21 deals from 32 deals.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc was the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units worth N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 70.7 million units transacted for N4.9 billion.
GNI Plc was also the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units exchanged for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units traded for N415.7 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
The losing streak on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited was halted on Friday after the bourse closed higher by 2.19 per cent at the close of trading activities.
The gains reported by Nigerian stocks were buoyed by renewed bargain-hunting by investors, which resulted in all the key sectors of Customs Street ended in the green territory.
The banking space rose by 2.78 per cent, the insurance counter appreciated by 1.26 per cent, the energy segment expanded by 0.36 per cent, the consumer goods index chalked up 0.06 per cent, and the industrial goods sector grew by 0.05 per cent.
Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 4,918.37 points to 229,240.34 points from 224,321.97 points, and the market capitalisation increased by N3.156 trillion to N147.103 trillion from N143.947 trillion.
Investor sentiment was bullish after 34 stocks ended on the price gainers’ chart and 18 stocks finished on the losers’ log, representing a positive market breadth index.
The quintet of The Initiates, Universal Insurance, DAAR Communications, Omatek, and Airtel Africa surged by 10.00 per cent to sell for N25.85, 88 Kobo, N1.65, N1.76, and N5,274.00, respectively.
On the flip side, International Energy Insurance lost 9.96 per cent to trade at N4.70, Meyer shed 9.95 per cent to close at N18.55, Veritas Kapital dropped 5.07 per cent to finish at N1.31, Fidelity Bank slipped by 2.17 per cent to N18.00, and Jaiz Bank crashed by 1.84 per cent to N28.12.
During the session, a total of 414.7 million equities worth N25.1 billion exchanged hands in 47,106 deals compared with the 855.4 million equities valued at N28.4 billion transacted in the preceding day in 51,609 deals, implying a contraction in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 51.52 per cent, 11.62 per cent, and 8.73 per cent, respectively.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira closed flat against the United States Dollar at N1,370.19/$1 in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, July 3.
However, it appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the same market segment by N2.29 to settle at N1,829.88/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,832.17/£1, and marginally depreciated against the Euro by 4 Kobo to close at N1,568.32/€1 versus Thursday’s closing price of N1,568.28/€1.
At the parallel market, the Naira also traded flat against the US Dollar at N1,390/$1, and at the GTBank forex desk, it also maintained stability at N1,832/$1.
Market conditions improved shortly after the following minimal intervention by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through modest Dollar sales, which boosted liquidity and supported stronger trading activity.
Easing pressure came after half-year profit-taking tapered down, while continued stronger policy signals from the central bank add to near-term support.
Deals executed at the official market on Friday came in at $70.430 million across 82 interbank deals, from $85.517 million the previous day.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market continued its recovery after June non-farm payrolls printed at 57,000, less than half the 113,000 consensus, sending the implied probability of a September Federal Reserve rate hike from 64 per cent to 54 per cent and dragging AI stocks sharply lower.
Weak labour data reduces inflationary pressure and, by extension, the Federal Reserve’s justification for holding rates elevated. That transmission mechanism is direct: lower rate-hike odds compress the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets like crypto.
Bitcoin regained the $62,000 mark after it rose by 1.3 per cent to $62,475.29.
Cardano (ADA) gained 6.6 per cent to trade at $0.1759, Ripple (XRP) appreciated by 3.5 per cent to $1.14, Ethereum (ETH) expanded by 2.4 per cent to $1,756.82, Dogecoin (DOGE) improved by 2.1 per cent to $0.0768, Solana (SOL) chalked up 1.8 per cent to $82.65, TRON (TRX) increased by 1.5 per cent to $0.3235, and Binance Coin (BNB) soared by 1.4 per cent to $569.12, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 apiece.
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