Economy
NASD Market Capitalisation Drops 4.57% on NGX Group Exit

By Adedapo Adesanya
The major trading indices of the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange closed mixed on Monday as Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Group Plc withdrew from the bourse ahead of its listing by introduction on the NGX Limited later this week.
During trading at the unlisted securities market yesterday, the NASD market capitalisation recorded a slump, while the NASD Security Index (NSI) appreciated at the close of transactions.
According to data obtained by Business Post, the total value of securities on the exchange declined by 4.57 per cent or N26.44 billion to N611.95 billion from N638.39 billion.
However, the NSI rose by 0.39 per cent or 6.22 points to wrap the session at 740.70 points compared with 734.48 points of the previous session.
The gain seen at the session was influenced by appreciation in the stock price of FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc.
The company, which produces Peak and Three Crowns milk, saw a 2.3 per cent or N2.80 increase in its stock value to N120.80 per share from N118 per share of the last trading session.
But the market witnessed a price decliner on Monday and this was NASD Plc, which dropped 76 kobo or 6.33 per cent to settle at N11.24 per unit in contrast to the previous N12.00 per unit.
During the session, there was a decrease in the volume of securities traded at the bourse as investors bought 285,650 units compared to the previous trading day’s 335,437 units, showing a 14.8 per cent decline.
However, the value of shares traded yesterday rose by 4.6 per cent to N5.1 million from N4.8 million, while the number of deals increased by 37.5 per cent to 11 deals from 8 deals of the earlier trading day.
Food Concepts Plc closed the session as the most traded stock by volume (year-to-date) with 11.4 billion units worth N14.4 billion, Geo Fluids Plc trailed with 1.0 billion units worth N700.1 million, while the third place, NGX Group has traded 456.5 million units worth N9.2 billion.
In terms of value, Food Concepts Plc also topped the chart with 11.4 billion units transacted for N14.4 billion, followed by NGX Group Plc with 456.5 million units valued at N9.2 billion, and VFD Group Plc with 10.4 million units worth N3.5 billion.
Economy
Naira Falls to N1,500/$1 at Official Market, Appreciates to N1,570/$1 at Black Market

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.
Economy
Buying Pressure Buoys NGX All-Share Index by 0.10%

By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited witnessed continued buying interest from offshore and domestic investors on Thursday, strengthening the market further by 0.10 per cent at the close of transactions.
Data revealed that the All-Share Index (ASI) was up by 105.26 points yesterday to 105,430.15 points from the preceding day’s 105,324.89 points, and the market capitalisation expanded by N65 billion to close at N65.287 trillion compared with the previous session’s N65.222 trillion.
Business Post observed that the market participants showed interest in equities across the key sectors of the exchange because of their prospects to yield better value later.
The insurance counter gained 0.63 per cent, the consumer goods index appreciated by 0.18 per cent, the energy index improved by 0.13 per cent, the banking space jumped by 0.09 per cent, and the industrial goods industry grew by 0.04 per cent.
Eterna chalked up 9.88 per cent to trade at N33.35, Cadbury Nigeria also gained 9.88 per cent to finish at N26.70, Fidson increased its value by 9.77 per cent to N19.10, UPDC rose by 9.77 per cent to N2.36, and Deap Capital soared by 9.38 per cent to N1.05.
On the flip side, Tripple G lost 9.72 per cent to end at N2.23, Golden Breweries receded by 8.91 per cent to N7.87, Veritas Kapital slumped by 7.81 per cent to N1.18, Caverton dipped by 5.53 per cent to N2.05, and Regency Alliance slipped by 4.05 per cent to 71 Kobo.
When the bourse closed for the session, there were 33 price advancers and 23 price decliners, indicating a positive market breadth index and strong investor sentiment.
Yesterday, investors bought and sold 537.2 million shares valued at N23.0 billion in 15,450 deals versus the 1.1 billion shares worth N28.8 billion traded in 15,080 deals on Wednesday, representing a rise in the number of deals by 2.45 per cent, and a decline in the trading volume and value by 49.19 per cent and 20.14 per cent, respectively.
Access Holdings led the activity log with 61.6 million stocks valued at N1.7 billion, Sterling Holdings exchanged 50.2 million equities for N296.2 million, Zenith Bank traded 40.5 million shares worth N2.0 billion, FBN Holdings sold 38.8 million equities valued at N1.3 billion, and UPDC transacted 23.6 million stocks worth N54.4 million.
Economy
Crude Oil Market Dips as Trump Reiterates US Plans to Boost Production

By Adedapo Adesanya
The crude oil market continued its downward movement on Thursday after the US President, Mr Donald Trump, repeated a pledge to raise his country’s oil production.
Consequently, the price of Brent crude futures fell by 32 cents or 0.4 per cent to $74.29 a barrel and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude declined by 42 cents or 0.6 per cent to $70.61 per barrel.
President Trump repeated a pledge to boost US production in a bid to lower oil prices and ease consumer inflation. The US is already the biggest crude producer in the world.
This move unnerved traders a day after the country reported a much bigger-than-anticipated jump in crude stockpiles.
Market analysts have questioned whether US oil producers will be willing to pump more barrels in the current market especially with Trump’s tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports looming.
US government data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) showed domestic crude stockpiles rose by 8.7 million barrels last week on Wednesday.
Prices also drew support from new US sanctions against individuals and entities for facilitating shipments of Iranian oil to China.
This is as President Trump reimposed a maximum pressure campaign against Iran, but also said he was open to a deal with the oil producing country.
The US said the tankers onboarded Iranian crude from storage in China as part of a scheme involving Iran’s military, which stands to profit from the sale of the oil.
The sanctions block access of the individuals and entities to any of their assets in the US and prohibit US foreign assistance.
China is also not sitting on its oars, it responded to the US blanket tariff of 10 per cent on all Chinese imports with several measured retaliatory tariffs, including a 15 per cent levy on LNG and 10 per cent on crude oil imports from the US.
US crude exports could slide to 3.6 million barrels per day this year, especially if the Trump Administration enacts the tariffs on Mexico and Canada – currently on pause until March 4.
Amid these developments, Saudi Arabia’s state oil company, Aramco has sharply raised prices for buyers in Asia.
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