Economy
Market Gains 0.13% as Wema Bank, Zenith Bank Attract Investors
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited closed 0.13 per cent higher on Thursday on the back of a renewed interest in local equities.
Shares of Wema Bank, Mutual Benefits Assurance, Zenith Bank and others enjoyed investors’ patronage yesterday as traders begin to rebalance their portfolios ahead of the earnings season in the coming weeks.
Business Post reports that 18 equities closed on the gainers’ chart on Thursday, while eight stocks finished on the losers’ end.
Champion Breweries was the highest gainer as its share price rose by 10.00 per cent to settle at N1.98, trailed by Coronation Insurance, which appreciated by 9.43 per cent to close at 58 kobo.
Lasaco Assurance improved by 7.91 per cent to N1.50, Berger Paints gained 7.69 per cent to sell for N7.70, while Mutual Benefits Assurance rose by 6.52 per cent to 49 kobo.
On the flip side, Consolidated Hallmark Insurance was the heaviest price loser as its share valued decreased during the session by 8.96 per cent to 61 kobo.
Unity Bank went down by 3.51 per cent to 55 kobo, Sterling Bank declined by 1.91 per cent to N1.54, International Breweries shed 1.82 per cent to close at N5.40, while Linkage Assurance dropped 1.79 per cent to 55 kobo.
As earlier stated, financial stocks attracted investors at the market yesterday, with Wema Bank closing as the most traded for transacting 27.2 million units worth N15.0 million.
Mutual Benefits Assurance traded 21.4 million units valued at N10.5 million, Zenith Bank exchanged 16.3 million units for N382.1 million, Sterling Bank traded 12.3 million units worth N18.8 million, while FBN Holdings transacted 7.9 million units valued at N57.1 million.
A total of 160.4 million stocks worth N1.4 billion were traded yesterday in 3,260 deals in contrast to the 302.7 million stocks worth N2.8 billion traded in 4,387 deals at the midweek session, indicating that the trading volume, value and the number of deals depreciated by 47.00 per cent, 50.34 per cent and 25.69 per cent respectively.
But when trading activities on the exchange were brought to an end for the day, the All-Share Index (ASI) was up by 50.41 points to settle at 38,615.11 points compared with the previous 38,564.70 points.
In the same vein, the market capitalisation of the NGX went up by N27 billion to finish at N20.126 trillion compared with N20.099 trillion it ended at the preceding session.
Apart from the industrial goods counter, which depreciated by 0.02 per cent, and the energy index, which closed flat, every other sector closed positive.
The insurance space appreciated by 1.01 per cent, the banking counter improved by 0.81 per cent, while the consumer goods sector went up by 0.18 per cent.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange weakened by 0.22 per cent on Tuesday, April 28, with the market capitalisation down by N4.8 billion to N2.420 trillion from N2.425 trillion, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) down by 9.01 points to 4,044.96 points from 4,053.97 points.
During the session, the price of Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc went down by N1.82 to N767.05 per share from N78.87 per share, while FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc appreciated by N1.90 to N100.00 per unit from N98.10 per unit.
According to data, the value of trades increased by 265.7 per cent to N27.1 million from N7.4 million units, and the volume of transactions surged by 305.2 per cent to 1.3 million units from 319,831 units, while the number of deals decreased by 6.9 per cent to 27 deals from 29 deals.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with the sale of 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 59.8 million units exchanged for N4.0 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.8 million units traded for N1.9 billion.
GNI Plc also finished as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with a turnover of 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, trailed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units sold for N1.2 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Pressure is beginning to mount on the Nigerian Naira in the different segments of the foreign exchange (FX) market despite an oil windfall triggered by the Middle East crisis.
On Monday, April 27, the domestic currency further weakened against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) by N16.47 or 1.2 per cent to N1,380.71/$1 from the previous day’s N1,364.24/$1.
It was not different against the Pound Sterling in the same market window, as it lost N16.04 to trade at N1,863.76/£1 versus Monday’s closing rate of N1,847.72/£1, and against the Euro, it slipped by N12.72 to close at N1,615.01/€1 versus N1,602.29/€1.
The Naira also depreciated against the Dollar at the black market yesterday by N5 to quote at N1,390/$1 compared with the previous price of N1,385, and at the GTBank forex counter, it further crashed by N9 to settle at N1,379/$1 compared with the preceding session’s N1,370/$1.
The continued decline of the Naira comes as traders increasingly seek other safe-haven currencies amid continued global disruptions.
The benefit awash in the global market is making foreign portfolio investors stay short in Nigerian markets. Despite this, the daily FX publication released showed that interbank turnover rose to $98.829 million across 78 deals, up from $76.65 million.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market remained cautious, with Bitcoin (BTC) trading at $77,216.66 despite surging oil prices and geopolitical tensions over a potential extended US naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
Analysts say the supply overhang has finally dried up, and the sellers who were spooked by macro shifts or quantum fears have already exited, leaving the market much thinner on the sell-side.
Investors will await decisions made by central banks this week. The US Federal Reserve will announce its rate decision later on Wednesday, while the European Central Bank (ECB) follows on Thursday.
Ethereum (ETH) gained 1.5 per cent to trade at $2,324.59, Dogecoin (DOGE) chalked up 1.4 per cent to sell for $0.1016, Solana (SOL) appreciated by 0.6 per cent to $84.85, Cardano (ADA) grew by 0.5 per cent to $0.2483, and Binance Coin (BNB) advanced by 0.2 per cent to $627.15.
However, TRON (TRX) depreciated by 0.6 per cent to $0.3224, and Ripple (XRP) lost 0.03 per cent to sell at $1.39, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) were unchanged at $1.00 each.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil was up by nearly 3 per cent on Tuesday as persistent worries about supply constraints from the closed Strait of Hormuz continued, with Brent futures for June rising by $3.03 or 2.8 per cent to $111.26 a barrel, and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures growing by $3.56 or 3.7 per cent to $99.93 a barrel.
An earlier round of negotiations between the United States and Iran collapsed last week after face-to-face talks failed.
Ship-tracking data showed significant disruptions in the region, with six Iranian oil tankers forced to turn back due to the US blockade, but some traffic is still moving.
Prices trimmed some of the advances after the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the fourth-largest producer in the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), said on Tuesday it would exit the group on this Friday, May 1, 2026.
This dealt a blow to the oil-exporting group and its de facto leader, Saudi Arabia.
The UAE could quickly add between 1 million and 1.5 million barrels per day of output. However, with the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed, analysts said that there’s nowhere for that supply to go.
The UAE joined OPEC in 1967, but tension with Saudi Arabia over production quotas has been building for years.
Under the OPEC+ deal, the country has been held to roughly 3 million barrels per day while sitting on capacity above 4 million. It has been pushing toward 5 million barrels per day by 2027, and that target is hard to achieve with quotas built around someone else’s view of the market.
The war in Yemen broke whatever was left of diplomatic patience.
President Donald Trump said he was unhappy with the latest Iranian proposal to end the war. The proposal would avoid addressing the nuclear programme until hostilities cease and Gulf shipping disputes are resolved.
The Idemitsu Maru, a Panama-flagged tanker carrying 2 million barrels of Saudi oil, and an LNG tanker managed by the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) crossed the Strait on Tuesday, shipping data showed.
Vortexa data showed that the amount of crude oil held around the world on tankers that have been stationary for at least seven days rose to 153.11 million barrels as of April 24.
The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the United States fell by 1.79 million barrels in the week ending April 24. The official data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) will be released later on Wednesday.
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