Economy
NASD Market Gains 0.53% as Volume of Transactions Rises 286%
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over the Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange returned to gaining ways on Wednesday after closing flat at the market for two consecutive days.
The key parameters like the NASD Security Index and market capitalization recorded rise yesterday. While the market capitalization rose by 0.53 percent or N2.65 billion to close at N502.37 billion from N499.72 billion quoted the previous session.
Likewise, the NASD Security Index (NSI) appreciated to 699.25 points after moving up by 0.53 percent or 3.68 points compared to 695.57 points recorded at Tuesday’s trading session.
In the same vein, the rise also extended to the volume of transactions, which went up to 10,477 units on Wednesday from 2,714 units recorded on Tuesday, indicating a growth of 7,763 units or 286 percent.
However, the value of transactions recorded at the market dropped on Wednesday as it went down by 8.6 percent to close at N235,713 in contrast to N257,875 previously recorded.
Total deals executed also dropped as the number of deals closed dropped by 2 to 4 deals executed on Wednesday against 6 deals executed previously.
The market’s only gainer on Wednesday was Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc which saw its share price rise by 53 Kobo to close at N12.53 per share from N12 per share.
The company also retained its top spot on the most traded stock in value terms (year-to-date) with 202,272,698 units worth N2.53 billion, UBN Properties followed on the list with 884,529,600 units of its stocks sold for N1.2 billion.
Meanwhile, Food Concept Plc held the market’s top of trades position by volume (year to date) with a total transaction of 1,158,828,284 units valued at N844.0 billion, while UBN Properties followed with 921,841,397 units worth N1.24 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The duo of FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc pulled down the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 0.89 per cent on Monday, August 17.
The price of FrieslandCampina went down by N9.85 to N160.00 per unit from N169.85 per unit, and CSCS Plc depreciated by 96 Kobo to N98.50 per share versus N99.46 per share.
As a result, the market capitalisation further lost N23.90 billion to end at N2.656 trillion, in contrast to the preceding session’s N2.68 trillion, and the NASD Security Index (NSI) dropped 39.81 points to close at 4,426.02 points from 4,465.83 points.
During the trading session, the share price of Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc was up by 1 Kobo to 55 Kobo per unit from 54 Kobo per unit.
Yesterday, the volume of securities transacted by market participants decreased by 79.3 per cent to 652,081 units from 3.2 million units, the value of securities slid by 78.2 per cent to N10.7 million from N375.7 million, and the number of deals went south by 54.4 per cent to 21 deals from 46 deals.
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 valued at N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 79.6 million units transacted for N5.8 billion.
GNI Plc also ended the session as the most traded 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 sold for N415.7 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
The bears have refused to vacate the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited, further inflicting a 0.07 per cent loss on the bourse on Monday due to sustained profit-taking.
Data from Customs Street indicated that sell-offs were more pronounced in the financial services sector during the session, with the insurance index down by 1.48 per cent, and the banking counter shedding 0.46 per cent.
They rubbed out the gains recorded by the other sectors, as the consumer goods segment rose by 0.43 per cent and the energy index gained 0.01 per cent, while the industrial goods space closed flat.
When the closing gong was struck to signify the close of transactions, the All-Share Index (ASI) shrank by 164.55 points to 242,454.65 points from 242,619.20 points, and the market capitalisation decreased by N106 billion to N156.518 trillion from the preceding session’s N156.624 trillion.
Investor sentiment remained bearish yesterday, as the stock market ended with 19 price gainers and 36 price losers, implying a negative market breadth index.
RT Briscoe lost 9.91 per cent to finish at N10.45, Fortis Global Insurance slumped by 9.89 per cent to N2.37, McNichols depreciated by 9.62 per cent to N4.70, University Press dropped 9.35 per cent to close at N4.85, and NEM Insurance dipped by 8.83 per cent to N30.45.
Conversely, Trans-Nationwide Express gained 9.86 per cent to trade at N3.12, AVA Capital expanded by 9.72 per cent to N7.90, Thomas Wyatt went up by 9.09 per cent to N3.00, Legend Internet improved by 8.75 per cent to N4.35, and Dangote Sugar soared by 8.60 per cent to N70.10.
On the activity chart, the trading volume retreated by 7.14 per cent to 1.3 billion units from 1.4 billion units last Friday. The trading value went down by 49.45 per cent to N22.9 billion from N45.3 billion, while the number of deals surged by 16.25 per cent to 45,494 deals from 39,134 deals.
At the close of trades, Lasaco Assurance transacted 730.7 million shares worth N1.3 billion, Consolidated Hallmark traded 154.3 million equities for N1.1 billion, Cornerstone Insurance exchanged 106.1 million stocks valued at N535.4 million, Chams sold 25.3 million shares worth N108.4 million, and First Holdco transacted 25.0 million equities for N3.4 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira appreciated against the United States Dollar by N8.07 or 0.59 per cent in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Monday, August 17, to N1,349.54/$1 from last Friday’s N1,357.61/$1.
Similarly, the Nigerian Naira gained N9.99 against the Pound Sterling in the official FX market during the session to settle at N1,830.11/£1 versus the previous day’s N1,840.10/£1, and improved its value against the Euro by N6.91 to close at N1,564.79/€1 compared with the preceding session’s N1,571.70/€1.
However, the Nigerian currency traded flat against the US Dollar yesterday at the parallel market at N1,395/$1, and at the GTBank forex counter, it remained unchanged at N1,364/$1.
Interbank FX turnover, according to data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), accelerated by 265 per cent to $437.529 million from last Friday’s $119.594 million, with the number of deals rising to 178 from 137.
Total FX inflows into the NAFEM window increased significantly to $1.77 billion from $0.83 billion in the previous week, according to the research subsidiary of Coronation Group.
Domestic sources accounted for 63.44 per cent of total inflows, driven primarily by Exporters (31.2 per cent) and Non-Bank Corporates (17.7 per cent), underscoring the growing contribution of autonomous market participants to FX supply.
Notably, the central bank injected $252.1 million, representing 14.3 per cent of total inflows, to enhance market liquidity. On the external side, Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) remained the largest single source of FX, contributing 33.71 per cent of aggregate inflows.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was mixed on Monday, with Bitcoin (BTC) up by 0.9 per cent to $64,153.93, and Solana (SOL) gaining 0.3 per cent to sell at $75.602.
This occurred amid broader markets continuing their climb following President Donald Trump saying he was not interested in extending the expiring agreement with Iran, and as fighting flared again in Lebanon.
But Cardano (ADA) lost 2.2 per cent to finish at $0.1729, Ripple (XRP) declined by 0.8 per cent to $0.9939, Dogecoin (DOGE) slipped by 0.7 per cent to $0.0698, Binance Coin (BNB) crumbled by 0.4 per cent to $602.80, Ethereum (ETH) slid by 0.3 per cent to $1,892.96, and TRON (TRX) also depreciated by 0.3 per cent to $0.3314, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00, respectively.
