Economy
NASD Exchange Records 5.1% Growth in 2020
By Adedapo Adesanya
The year 2020 was very good for the NASD OTC Securities Exchange following the year-to-date return of 5.1 per cent it recorded.
A 5.1 per cent growth for an exchange like the NASD can be regarded as impressive because of the lesser attention paid to the OTC market by investors.
During the year, the alternative bourse traded a total of 7,930,325,502 units of securities worth N12.7 billion executed in 1,498 deals.
In the final trading week of the year (Week 53), investors gained N2.57 billion and this pushed the market capitalisation of the exchange higher to N525.94 billion from N523.37 billion.
In the same vein, the NASD Security Index (NSI) rose by 0.49 per cent or 3.59 points to close 733.00 points as against 729.41 points of the previous week.
During week 53, four stocks admitted on the NASD exchange appreciated in price and they were Geo-Fluids Plc, Niger Delta Exploration and Production (NDEP) Plc, Nipco Plc and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc.
For Geo-Fluids, which currently holds a market capitalisation of N2.93 billion, appreciated by 30.2 per cent to close at 69 kobo per share in contrast to the previous price of 53 kobo per share.
On its part, NDEP, which closed with a market capitalisation of N61.68 billion, gained 13.1 per cent to close at N340.0 per share versus N300.76 per share it was sold a week earlier.
Also, Nipco, which ended the year with a market capitalisation of N12.76 billion, improved by 9.7 per cent to finish at N68 per unit in contrast to the previous week’s N62 per unit, while CSCS, which had a market capitalisation of N75.25 billion, gained 3.79 per cent to settle at N15.05 per share compared with N14.50 per share it traded a week earlier.
Despite the positive environment, there was an 84.9 per cent decrease in the total value of shares traded by investors during the week to N5.0 million from N33.3 million of the previous week.
In the same breath, the total volume traded during the week dropped by 63.9 per cent to 1.1 million units from 3.1 million units in week 52 and there was equally a 42.9 per cent decrease in the number of deals to eight deals from 14 deals executed a week earlier.
There was a decliner as FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, which currently holds a market capitalisation of N126.92 billion, lost 1.52 per cent to trade at N130.00 per share versus the previous price of N132.00 per share.
At the close of transactions, ARM Life Plc ranked top among the five most traded securities by volume with 7.4 billion units. CSCS traded 213.9 million units, Food Concepts Plc executed 152.2 million units, Lighthouse Financial Services exchanged 49.2 million units, while NASD Plc transacted 29.3 million units.
Also, ARM Life was the most active stock by value in the year, trading shares for N4.6 billion. NDEP transacted N3.7 billion securities, CSCS exchanged N2.9 billion stocks, FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria traded N846.4 million equities, while Nipco transacted N249.6 million shares.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange closed flat on Wednesday, August 5, as the market witnessed weaker trading activity with only two deals executed.
In the midweek session, the volume of securities exchanged by investors dropped 99.9 per cent to 802 units from the 1.6 million units recorded on Tuesday. The value of securities further decreased by 99.6 per cent to N208,240 from the preceding session’s N47.6 million, and the number of deals significantly went down by 93.9 per cent to two deals from the 33 deals recorded a day earlier.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc with 76.9 million units transacted for N5.5 billion.
GNI Plc was also the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units exchanged for N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million.
There were no price gainers or losers yesterday.
As a result, the market capitalisation stood unmoving at N2.739 trillion, while the NASD Security Index (NSI) remained unchanged at 4,563.96 points.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira slid against the US Dollar by N2.28 or 0.17 per cent in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Wednesday, August 5, to N1,363.85/$1 from N1,362.55/$1.
The local currency also declined against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N5.97 to close at N1,837.38/£1 compared with Tuesday’s closing rate of N1,831.41/£1, and against the Euro, it crashed by N6.54 to quote at N1,575.25/€1 versus the preceding session’s N1,568.71/€1.
But at the black market, the Nigerian Naira traded flat against the greenback yesterday at N1,400/$1, and also remained unchanged at the GTBank FX desk at N1,373/$1.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says rates have narrowed to below two per cent, while the country’s external reserves have risen above $52.5 billion, reflecting the impact of its ongoing monetary and foreign exchange reforms.
CBN Governor Yemi Cardoso, represented by the Acting Director of Corporate Communications and Investor Relations, Mrs Hakama Sidi-Ali, disclosed this on Tuesday during the CBN Fair in Gombe. He noted that reforms introduced since 2023 had significantly reduced the disparity between the official FX market and the parallel market.
“The Naira continues to strengthen, with the spread between official and Bureau de Change rates now below two per cent,” he said, adding that reserves at $52.5 billion were supported by sustained inflows and renewed investor confidence in the economy.
Interbank FX transactions slid as weaker market activities dropped total Dollar volume exchanged to $75.35 million, a 51.8 per cent decline from $156.23 million in turnover quoted at the previous close.
The deals at the NFEM window also fell as data from the central bank put Wednesday’s quote at 82 from 139.
In the cryptocurrency market, major were down as global risk sentiment softened as a key world equity index slipped and chipmakers fell.
The MSCI All Country World Index snapped a five-day run to fall 0.2 per cent as chipmakers retreated on both sides of the Pacific. South Korea’s Kospi, a bellwether for the AI trade, dropped 4.4 per cent.
Ripple (XRP) depleted by 1.7 per cent to $1.05, Binance Coin (BNB) decreased by 1.0 per cent to $594.87, Cardano (ADA) depreciated by 0.9 per cent to $0.1884, TRON (TRX) shrank by 0.2 per cent to $0.3261, Solana (SOL) crumbled by 0.1 per cent to $74.00, and Dogecoin (DOGE) went down by 0.1 per cent to $0.0697.
On the flip side, Ethereum (ETH) gained 2.3 per cent to trade at $1,911.41, and Bitcoin (BTC) rose by 0.8 per cent to $64,759.28, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.
By Dipo Olowookere
The domestic stock exchange rebounded by 0.05 per cent on Wednesday on the back of renewed bargain-hunting by investors, though the level of activity waned.
After bleeding for a few days, the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited heaved a sigh of relief yesterday, as the All-Share Index (ASI) gained 109.41 points to close at 244,912.24 points compared with the previous day’s 244,802.83 points, and the market capitalisation garnered N71 billion to settle at N158.087 trillion versus Tuesday’s N158.016 trillion.
Business Post reports that despite the rebound recorded by Customs Street at midweek, the market breadth index remained negative, as there were 20 price advancers and 29 price decliners, implying bearish investor sentiment.
Linkage Assurance appreciated by 9.94 per cent to N1.77, AVA Capital rose by 9.55 per cent to N10.90, Fortis Global Insurance advanced by 7.69 per cent to N2.80, McNichols gained 7.34 per cent to finish at N5.85, and Coronation Insurance surged by 5.51 per cent to N2.49.
Conversely, Honeywell Flour depreciated by 9.94 per cent to N16.30, PZ Cussons gave up 9.94 per cent to trade at N74.75, Zichis crashed by 9.74 per cent to N20.76, Learn Africa slipped by 9.62 per cent to N9.40, and Neimeth tumbled by 8.33 per cent to N8.25.
The busiest equity was FCMB, with a turnover of 369.2 million units valued at N4.1 billion. Chams transacted 46.7 million units worth N201.8 million, First Holdco transacted 43.5 million units for N5.7 billion, Access Holdings sold 29.8 million units worth N778.0 million, and Linkage Assurance exchanged 19.6 million units valued at N33.5 million.
At the close of transactions, market participants bought and sold 824.1 million units worth N25.5 billion in 48,114 deals, in contrast to the 1.6 billion units sold for N28.7 billion in 54,160 deals a day earlier, showing a shortfall in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 48.49 per cent, 11.15 per cent, and 11.16 per cent, respectively.
