By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange rose by marginal 0.02 per cent on Tuesday, March 25 spurred by a boost in the price of 11 Plc.

At the close of business, the share price of 11 Plc increased during the trading day by N1 to close the day at N241.00 per unit compared with the previous day’s N240.00 per unit.

Consequently, the market capitalisation increased by N340 million to settle at N1.929 trillion, the same value it ended a day earlier, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) went up by 0.62 points to 3,340.14 points from Monday’s 3,339.52 points.

Trading data showed a decrease of 98.3 per cent in the volume of securities transacted to 16,848 units from the 961,456 units transacted in the previous trading day, the value of transactions slid by 85.6 per cent to N3.2 million from N22.1, and the number of deals fell by 81.8 per cent to four deals from 22 deals recorded.

Impresit Bakolori Plc remained the most active stock by volume at the bourse since the start of the year till yesterday with 533.9 million units worth N520.9 million, followed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 70.0 million units worth N23.8 million, and Geo Fluids Plc with 44.1 million units sold for N88.9 million.

Also, Impresit Bakolori Plc was the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with a turnover of 533.9 million units worth N520.9 million, trailed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with the sale of 13.3 million units valued at N513.9 million, and Afriland Properties Plc with 17.6 million units valued at N360.1 million

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira witnessed a 0.09 per cent or N1.37 depreciation on the US Dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Tuesday, March 25, closing at N1,533.66/$1 compared with the previous day’s value of N1,532.29/$1.

Also, the Nigerian currency weakened against the British Pound Sterling yesterday in the official market by N4.62 to quote at N1,985.37/£1 compared with Monday’s closing price of N1,980.75/£1 and crashed against the Euro at the same market segment by N3.29 to finish at N1,659.12/€1, in contrast to the preceding session’s N1,655.83/€1.

At the parallel market window, the Naira maintained stability against the Dollar during the session at N1,570/$1, according to data harvested by Business Post.

The domestic currency has been volatile in the past trading days despite moves by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to sustain FX liquidity to ease the pressure on the Naira.

As for the cryptocurrency market, investors reacted positively to the US Federal Reserve’s dovish stance on inflation and a cooldown in concerns around the upcoming US tariffs, which have supported gains in the past week.

However, the lack of altcoin correlation with Bitcoin’s (BTC) recent moves hints that the current price action might lack broad market support.

During the session, Dogecoin (DOGE) appreciated by 5.8 per cent to sell at $0.1942, Solana (SOL) rose by 2.9 per cent to trade at $143.97, Litecoin (LTC) recorded a 2.6 per cent growth to close at $95.01, and Cardano (ADA) jumped by 1.9 per cent to settle at $0.7542.

Further, BTC improved its value on Tuesday by 1.5 per cent to finish at $87,889.95, Ripple (XRP) went up by 1.4 per cent to end at $2.45, and Ethereum (ETH) expanded by 0.3 per cent to close at $2,068.23.

On the flip side, Binance Coin (BNB) depreciated by 1.7 per cent to finish at $632.46, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.

By Adedapo Adesanya

The oil market was mixed on Tuesday as a truce between Russia and Ukraine offset concerns about tighter global supply due to threatened US tariffs on countries buying Venezuelan production.

Brent crude futures closed higher by 2 cents or 0.03 per cent at $73.02 a barrel and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell by 11 cents or 0.16 per cent to $69 per barrel.

The US reached deals with Ukraine and Russia to pause attacks at sea and against energy targets, with Washington agreeing to push to lift some sanctions against Russia.

The agreements are the first formal commitments by the two warring sides since President Donald Trump’s inauguration.

President Trump is pushing for an end to the war in Ukraine and a rapid rapprochement with Russia that has alarmed Ukraine and European countries.

The US agreement will help seek the lifting of international sanctions on Russian agriculture and fertiliser exports, a Russian demand that has been in the offing since.

Meanwhile, both sides said they would rely on the US to enforce the deals, while expressing scepticism that the other side would abide by them.

Market analysts confirmed that a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine might open the door for the reduction of sanctions on Russian oil.

However, President Trump’s threat of tariffs against countries importing oil and gas from Venezuela has raised supply concerns.

The tariffs have been considered an indirect sanction designed to hurt China’s independent refineries , which are the largest buyers of Venezuelan oil.

The Trump administration has extended a deadline to May 27 for US producer Chevron to wind down operations in Venezuela.

The withdrawal of Chevron’s licence to operate could reduce production in the country by about 200,000 barrels per day.

This is after the US issued new sanctions intended to hit Iranian oil exports last week.

In addition, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies (OPEC+) will likely stick to its plan to raise oil output for a second consecutive month in May.

The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the United States fell by 4.6 million barrels for the week ending March 21. Official information will come from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) later on Wednesday.