By Dipo Olowookere

The local stock exchange depreciated by 023 per cent on Friday after profit-takers pounced on the market, selling off some equities as part of their portfolio rebalancing strategy.

Data showed that the energy sector was the most affected as it closed lower by 0.09 per cent, with the other sectors ending in the green territory.

The insurance index appreciated by 1.27 per cent, the consumer goods counter improved by 0.42 per cent, and the banking space  grew by 0.12 per cent, while the industrial goods and commodity sectors closed flat.

At the close of transactions, the All-Share Index (ASI) of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited shrank by 242.12 points to 106,538.60 points from 106,780.72 points and the market capitalisation was trimmed by N152 billion to N66.717 trillion from the previous day’s N66.869 trillion.

Despite the loss, the market breadth index was positive, with 34 price gainers and 18 price losers, representing strong investor sentiment.

Eterna and Guinea Insurance lost 10.00 per cent each to trade at N37.80 and 63 Kobo apiece, FCMB declined by 7.61 per cent to N9.10, Caverton shed 5.80 per cent to finish at N2.60, and ABC Transport eased by 5.06 per cent to N1.50.

Conversely, Livestock Feeds gained 9.87 per cent to settle at N8.35, Honeywell Flour grew by 9.80 per cent to N13.45, Eunisell jumped by 9.69 per cent to N10.75, May and Baker appreciated by 9.66 per cent to N7.95, and Tantalizers soared by 9.28 per cent to N2.59.

Yesterday, the number of deals carried out by the market participants increased by 4.05 per cent to 11,911 deals from 11,447 deals, the volume of transactions went down by 7.05 per cent to 349,2 million shares from 375.7 million shares, and the value of trades retreated by 4.90 per cent to N9.7 billion from N10.2 billion.

Zenith Bank was the busiest equity at the bourse during the session after it transacted 42.2 million units for N2.0 billion, Fidelity Bank traded 35.9 million units worth N624.7 million, Access Holdings exchanged 31.5 million units valued at N746.9 million, UBA sold 24.0 million units worth N897.8 million, and Tantalizers traded 23.1 million units worth N59.2 million.

By Adedapo Adesanya

The market capitalisation of the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange got a 2.48 per cent rise on Friday, March 7 after admitting Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit) Plc to the alternative stock exchange.

InfraCredit is a specialized credit guarantee institution established in June 2017 by the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) and GuarantCo to provide local currency guarantees and mobilise long term domestic debt financing for infrastructure in Nigeria.

A total of 15,255,079,725 securities of the organisation at the unit price of N2.43, totaling N37.07 billion, were admitted to the platform. When trading activities ended yesterday, increasing the value of the market by N47 billion to N1.946 trillion from N1.899 trillion.

As for the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI), it went up by 0.52 per cent or 17.45 points to close at 3,370.39 points compared with the preceding day’s 3,352.94 points.

The sole price gainer for the session was Okitipupa Plc, which further improved its share price by N26.41 to close at N298.00 per unit, in contrast to Thursday’s price of N271.59 per unit.

On the flip side, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc lost 48 Kobo to sell at N23.02 per share compared with the previous day’s N23.50 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc declined by 5 Kobo to sell for N37.00 per unit versus the previous session’s N37.05 per unit, and Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc dropped 4 Kobo to close the day at 39 Kobo per share, in contrast to the 43 Kobo per share it was sold a day earlier.

The volume of securities transacted by investors slumped by 50.3 per cent to 1.1 million units from the 2.2 million units transacted in the previous trading day, the value of transactions slid by 72.5 per cent to N21.9 million from N79.4 million, while the the number of deals went down by 62.2 per cent to 14 deals from 37 deals.

At the close of business, Impresit Bakolori Plc remained the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 533.9 million units worth N520.9 million, trailed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 69.9 million units worth N23.7 million, and Afriland Properties Plc with 17.2 million units sold for N352.7 million.

Also, Impresit Bakolori Plc was the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 533.9 million units worth N520.9 million, followed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 11.6 million units valued at N452.7 million, and Afriland Properties Plc with 17.2 million units sold for N352.7 million.

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira lost N10.23 or 0.75 per cent against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Friday, March 7, selling at N1,522.78/$1 compared with the previous day’s value of N1,512.55/$1.

The domestic currency weakened in the official market during the session despite a dual intervention by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

According to market traders, there was a double intervention by the apex bank on Friday in an effort to ease the pressure on the local currency.

Already, the recent poor performance of the Naira in the currency market is fanning concerns about its stability, especially when the country’s FX reserves are depleting.

At the spot market yesterday, the Nigerian currency crashed against the Pound Sterling by N47.74 to sell for N1,960.28/£1 versus Thursday’s rate of N1,912.28/£1 and against the Euro, it tumbled by N40.39 to quote at N1,648.94/€1, in contrast to the preceding session’s N1,608.55/€1.

A look at the black market segment showed that the Nigerian Naira depreciated against the greenback on Friday by N10 to settle at N1,570/$1 compared with the previous day’s value of N1,560/$1.

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was upside down yesterday after a White House official backpedaled on President Donald Trump’s announcement about the creation of a strategic crypto reserve, stating that the five cryptocurrencies mentioned were examples and not necessarily the largest by market cap.

In a March 2 social media post, Mr Trump claimed that a “US crypto reserve will elevate this critical industry after years of corrupt attacks from Biden administration.”

The announcement that it would include Solana (SOL), Cardan0 (ADA) and Ripple (XRP) was met with criticism from many in the industry, who expressed concerns that the inclusion of altcoins in a strategic reserve could be a vehicle for corruption and self-dealing.

As a result, Cardano (ADA) slumped by 5.2 per cent to trade at $0.8296, Ripple (XRP) went down by 5.1 per cent to $2.36, and  Solana (SOL) declined by 3.2 per cent to sell at $139.76.

Further, Bitcoin (BTC) lost 2.4 per cent to quote at $86,462.32, Ethereum (ETH) shrank by 1.9 per cent to $2,144.48, Dogecoin (DOGE) dipped by 1.4 per cent to $0.1979, and Binance Coin (BNB) plunged by 0.8 per cent to $597.86.

However, Litecoin (LTC) increased its value by 2.9 per cent, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded at $1.00 each.