By Dipo Olowookere

The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited appreciated further by 0.48 per cent on Friday after market participants showed no signs of slowing down in their hunt for stocks with sound fundamentals.

During the session, all the key sectors of the bourse witnessed bargain-hunting activities, with the banking counter growing by 1.72 per cent.

Further, the insurance index expanded by 1.64 per cent, the industrial goods sector jumped by 0.77 per cent, the consumer goods industry rose by 0.11 per cent and the energy space also gained 0.11 per cent.

Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 502.88 points to 105,933.03 points from the 105,430.15 points it ended a day earlier, and the market capitalisation gained 0.47 per cent or N305 billion to settle at N65.592 trillion compared with Thursday’s N65.287 trillion.

A total of 37 equities ended on the gainers’ chart yesterday and 17 equities on the losers’ table, implying a strong investor sentiment and positive market breadth index.

Academy Press appreciated by 9.93 per cent to N2.99, Cadbury Nigeria also improved its value by 9.93 per cent to N29.35, Eterna rose by 9.90 per cent to N36.65, Livestock Feeds expanded by 9.85 per cent to N5.80, and UPDC soared by 9.75 per cent to N2.59.

On the flip side, Multiverse lost 9.95 per cent to close at N9.05, MeCure Industries shed 9.71 per cent to N12.55, NPF Microfinance Bank slumped by 7.94 per cent to N1.74, Learn Africa declined by 4.44 per cent to N4.30, and Tantalizers soured by 3.85 per cent to N2.00.

Investors transacted 468.2 million shares worth N13.2 billion in 12,612 deals on the last trading session of the week compared with the 537.2 million shares valued at N23.0 billion traded in 15,450 deals in the preceding session, representing a decline in the trading volume, value and number of deals by 12.84 per cent, 42.61 per cent and 18.37 per cent, respectively.

The busiest stock for the day was Zenith Bank with a turnover of 108.8 million units worth N5.0 billion, Cutix traded 24.3 million units valued at N58.7 million, Access Holdings exchanged 23.6 million units for N657.7 million, Sterling Holdings transacted 22.8 million units valued at N136.0 million, and Fidelity Bank sold 20.4 million units worth N426.3 million.

By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange rose by 0.99 per cent on Thursday, February 6, boosted by price appreciation in the six stocks.

The NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) went up by 31.02 points during the trading session to 3,171.57 points, in contrast to the midweek’s 3,140.55 points, and the market capitalisation increased by N17.57 billion to close at N1.796 trillion compared with the previous day’s N1.779 trillion.

Okitipupa Plc added N8.44 to its value yesterday to finish at N93.30 per unit versus N84.86 per unit, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc gained N1.78 to wrap the day at N23.78 per share compared with N22.00 per share, and Afriland Properties Plc went up by N1.24 to N17.49 per unit from N16.25 per unit.

Further, Mixta Real Estate Plc expanded by 15 Kobo to finish at N3.11 per share versus the preceding session’s N2.96 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc grew by N1.61 to N39.50 per unit from N37.89 per unit, and  UBN Property Plc rose by 2 Kobo to close at N2.22 per share, in contrast to midweek’s N2.20 per share.

During the trading day, the volume of securities bought and sold by investors increased by 19.3 per cent to 12.0 million units from 10.1 million units, the value of securities soared by 5.1 per cent to N14.2 million from N13.5 million, and the number of deals surged by 152.9 per cent to 43 deals from 17 deals.

Impresit Bakolori Plc ended the session as the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 519.5 million units worth N504.3 million, followed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 6.2 million units valued at N245.0 million, and Geo-Fluids Plc with 9.3 million units sold for N44.8 million.

Also, Impresit Bakolori Plc remained the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 519.5 million units worth N504.3 million, trailed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 42.4 million units sold for N12.9 million, and Geo-Fluids Plc with 9.3 million units valued at N44.8 million.

By Adedapo Adesanya

For the fourth consecutive trading session, the value of the Nigerian currency, the Naira, depreciated against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Thursday by 0.06 per cent or N89 Kobo to trade at N1,500.65/$1 compared with the previous day’s value of N1,499.76/$1.

However, the Naira improved its value against the Pound Sterling in the official market yesterday by N8.19 to sell for N1,859.98/£1 compared with Wednesday’s closing price of N1,868.17/£1, but against the Euro, the local currency depreciated by N1.77 to settle at N1,555.18/€1, in contrast to midweek’s value of nN1,553.41/€1.

At the black market, the local currency gained N20 against the greenback during the session to quote at N1,570/$1 versus the N1,590/$1 it was traded a day earlier.

In the cryptocurrency market, it was majorly red on Thursday due to profit-taking as the US Securities and Exchange Commission took the first step toward allowing new crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tracking the price of assets like Litecoin and Solana, as well as new ways of redeeming funds from existing crypto ETFs.

Meanwhile, companies took another step toward launching Ripple (XRP) ETFs in a further sign of the new crypto-friendlier administration at the agency.

Data indicated that Cardano (ADA) went down by 5.1 per cent to trade at $0.7169, Solana (SOL) slumped by 4.8 per cent to finish at $192.63, and Dogecoin (DOGE) depreciated by 4.5 per cent to sell at $0.2509.

In addition, Ethereum (ETH) went down by 4.3 per cent to close at $2,713.47, Ripple (XRP) weakened by 3.6 per cent to end at $2.36, Litecoin (LTC) retreated by 1.9 per cent to close at $103.95, and Bitcoin (BTC) dipped by 0.5 per cent to sell for $97,344.70.

However, the price of Binance Coin (BNB) went up by 0.4 per cent to trade at $579.91, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.