Economy

MTN Nigeria, Lafarge Africa Put NSE on Cloud 9

Published

6 years ago

08/04/2020

By Dipo Olowookere

The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) was on cloud nine on Tuesday, reversing the losses printed on Monday courtesy the gains posted by MTN Nigeria, Lafarge Africa and some other stocks.

The equity market appreciated yesterday by 1.24 percent as a result of buying interests in these stocks, which had traded at very low prices for a while.

According to data obtained by Business Post from the exchange at the close of transactions, the All-Share Index (ASI) jerked up on Tuesday by 255.81 points to 20,925.19 points from 20,669.38 points, while the market capitalisation moved up by N133 billion to N10.905 trillion from N10.772 trillion.

The lockdown in Lagos, Abuja and Ogun State did not stop investors from trading stocks at the market as the local bourse remained very busy, though transactions occurred remotely.

By the time activities were brought to an end yesterday, the volume of shares traded increased by 328.79 percent, while the value of stocks exchanged by market participants rose by 34.93 percent, with the number of deals increasing by 11.07 percent.

It was observed that a total of 1.4 billion stocks worth N5.6 billion exchanged hands in 4,647 deals during the session compared with the 336.4 million equities worth N4.1 billion transacted in 4,184 deals the previous session.

An analysis of the trades showed that Omoluabi Mortgage Bank boosted the trading volume on Tuesday with 1.1 billion units of the company’s stocks worth N605.0 million.

GTBank traded 161.1 million shares for N2.9 billion, FBN Holdings transacted 32.4 million equities worth N140.8 million, Zenith Bank exchanged 28.6 million shares valued at N366.3 million, while UBA traded 20.6 million shares for N110.1 million.

On the price movement chart, MTN Nigeria dominated the gainers’ log. The telco’s stocks appreciated by N2.80 to sell at N94.80 per unit.

Lafarge Africa gained 95 kobo to trade at N10.75 per share, Zenith Bank moved up by 90 kobo to N12.95 per unit, Custodian Investment garnered 50 kobo to trade at N5.75 per unit, while UBA chalked up 45 kobo to quote at N5.45 per share.

Conversely, Ardova was the worst performing stock at the market yesterday. The energy stocks depreciated by N1.35 to settle at N12.45 per share.

Cadbury Nigeria lost 70 kobo to trade at N6.30 per unit, Flour Mills went down by 50 kobo to N21 per share, BUA Cement lost 30 kobo to finish at N31.50 per share, while Axa Mansard crashed by 17 kobo to N1.58 per unit.

A look at the sectoral performance showed that only the banking and industrial goods counters closed in the green territory. While the former appreciated by 3.22 percent, the latter went up by 3.44 percent.

However, the insurance index depreciated by 2.18 percent, the oil/gas sector fell by 0.62 percent, while the consumer goods declined by 0.14 percent.

Economy

MRS Oil, Two Others Raise NASD Bourse Higher by 0.52%

Published

2 hours ago

24/12/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

Demand for hot stocks, including MRS Oil Plc, buoyed the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 0.52 per cent on Tuesday, December 23.

The energy company was one of the three price gainers for the session as it chalked up N19.69 to sell at N216.59 per share versus the previous day’s value of N196.90 per share.

Further, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc gained N2.95 to close at N56.75 per unit versus N53.80 per unit and Golden Capital Plc appreciated by 84 Kobo to N9.29 per share from Monday’s N8.45 per share.

Consequently, the market capitalisation went up by N10.95 billion to N2.125 trillion from N2.125 trillion and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) rose by 18.31 points to 3,570.37 points from 3,552.06 points.

Yesterday, the NASD bourse recorded a price loser, the Central Securities Clearing System Plc (CSCS), which gave up 17 Kobo to close at N33.70 per unit against the previous trading value of N33.87 per unit.

The volume of securities traded at the session went down by 97.6 per cent to 297,902 units from the previous day’s 12.6 million units, the value of securities decreased by 98.5 per cent to N10.5 million from N713.6 million, and the number of deals remained flat at 32 deals.

By value, Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit) Plc ended as the most actively traded stock on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units exchanged for N16.4 billion. This was followed by Okitipupa Plc, which traded 178.9 million units valued at N9.5 billion, and MRS Oil Plc with 36.1 million units worth N4.9 billion.

In terms of volume, also on a year-to-date basis, InfraCredit Plc led the chart with a turnover of 5.8 billion units traded for N16.4 billion. Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc ranked second with 1.2 billion units sold for N420.7 million, while Impresit Bakolori Plc followed with the sale of 536.9 million units valued at N524.9 million.

Economy

NGX All-Share Index Soars to 153,354.13 points

Published

2 hours ago

24/12/2025

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

It was another bullish trading session for the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited as it closed higher by 0.59 per cent on Tuesday.

The market further rallied due to continued interest in large and mid-cap stocks on the exchange by investors rebalancing their portfolios for the year-end.

Yesterday, Aluminium Extrusion sustained its upward trajectory after it further appreciated by 9.96 per cent to N14.90, as Austin Laz gained 9.81 per cent to close at N2.91, Custodian Investment improved by 9.69 per cent to N38.50, and First Holdco soared by 9.35 per cent to N50.30.

Conversely, Royal Exchange declined by 7.22 per cent to N1.80, Champion Breweries shrank by 6.57 per cent to N15.65, NASCON lost 5.36 per cent to trade at N105.05, Sovereign Trust Insurance depreciated by 5.28 per cent to N3.77, and Japaul went down by 4.51 per cent to N2.33.

At the close of business, 29 shares ended on the gainers’ table and 27 shares finished on the losers’ log, representing a positive market breadth index and bullish investor sentiment.

This raised the All-Share Index (ASI) by 895.06 points to 153,354.13 points from 152,459.07 points and lifted the market capitalisation by N579 billion to N97.772 trillion from the previous day’s N97.193 trillion.

VFD Group finished the day as the busiest stock after it recorded a turnover of 192.0 million units worth N2.1 billion, GTCO exchanged 63.5 million units valued at N5.6 billion, Access Holdings traded 49.8 million units for N1.0 billion, First Holdco sold 45.8 million units valued at N2.3 billion, and Secure Electronic Technology transacted 38.3 million units worth N28.4 million.

In all, market participants bought and sold 677.4 million units valued at N20.8 billion in 27,589 deals compared with the 451.5 million units worth N13.0 billion traded in 33,327 deals on Monday, showing an improvement in the trading volume and value by 50.03 per cent and 60.00 per cent apiece, and a shortfall in the number of deals by 17.22 per cent.

Economy

Naira Firms up to N1,449 Per Dollar at Official Market

Published

2 hours ago

24/12/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira rallied against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Tuesday, December 23 by N6.57 or 0.45 per cent to N1,449.99/$1 from the previous day’s N1,456.56/$1.

The domestic currency also improved its value against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N1.30 to sell for N1,956.03/£1 compared with the preceding session’s N1,957.33/£1 and gained N2.94 on the Euro to close at N1,707.65/€1, in contrast to the previous session’s closing price of N1,710.59/€1.

In the same vein, the Nigerian Naira appreciated against the US Dollar by N5 at the GTBank FX counter to sell for N1,465/$1 versus the previous day’s N1,470/$1 but remained unchanged at N1,485/$1 in the black market window.

Sentiment in the FX market continued to improve with market operators attributing the appreciation to increased supply in the official market, supported by sustained interventions from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the impact of recent reforms.

Improved liquidity from exporters and foreign portfolio investors has also contributed to easing pressure on the local currency, helping to stabilise trading conditions during the festivities.

Analysts noted that the Naira’s performance has helped narrow the spread between the official and parallel market rates, a development seen as supportive of investor confidence and business planning. This relative stability has reduced short-term volatility risks and encouraged more orderly price discovery in the FX market.

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was down yesterday as analysts suggest tax-loss harvesting and low liquidity are contributing to the action in crypto as the year ends. That means investors selling their underwater positions to realize losses, lowering their tax liabilities.

Some analysts remain cautiously optimistic about a potential rally, though significant recovery is not expected until liquidity returns in January.

Dogecoin (DOGE) crumbled by 3.1 per cent to $0.1281, Solana (SOL) slumped by 2.9 per cent to $121.92, Cardano (ADA) fell by 2.7 per cent to $0.3582, Ethereum (ETH) slid by 2.2 per cent to $2,926.25, and Ripple (XRP) depreciated by 2.1 per cent to $1.85.

Further, Binance Coin (BNB) lost 2.0 per cent to sell for $838.21, Bitcoin (BTC) declined by 1.4 per cent to $86,933.97, and Litecoin (LTC) went down by 0.2 per cent to $76.33, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded at $1.00 apiece.