Economy
NASD OTC Index Jumps to 3,830.31 Points on 1.68% Gain
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange extended its gains by 1.68 per cent on Tuesday, February 10, further lifting the Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 63.37 points to 3,830.31 points from the previous session’s 3,766.94 points.
In the same vein, the market capitalisation of the bourse expanded by N37.92 billion during the session to N2.291 trillion from the N2.253 trillion it ended on Monday.
The growth was helped by six price gainers led by Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS), which gained N5.88 to sell at N64.73 per share versus N58.85 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc rose by N3.67 to N69.67 per unit from N66.00 per unit, Afriland Properties Plc increased by 94 Kobo to N15.95 per share from N15.01 per share, Geo-Fluids Plc appreciated by 33 Kobo to N4.41 per unit from N4.08 per unit, IPWA Plc soared by 26 Kobo to N2.85 per share from N2.59 per share, and Food Concepts Plc improved by 26 Kobo to N2.89 per unit from N2.63 per unit.
Business Post reports that there were three price losers yesterday, led by MRS Oil, which lost N20.00 to trade at N180.00 per share versus N200.00 per share, NASD Plc dipped by N3.60 to N51.40 per unit from N55.00 per unit, and Air Liquide Plc depreciated by N2.21 to N20.32 per share from N22.53 per share.
The activity level was down on Tuesday, as the volume of securities slid 50.1 per cent to 6.9 million units from 13.3 million units, the value of securities decreased by 10.4 per cent to N89.1 million from N99.3 million, and the number of deals reduced by 2.1 per cent to 46 deals from 47 deals.
CSCS Plc was the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 17.7 million units sold for N752.8 million, Geo-Fluids Plc recorded the sale of 29.2 million units valued at N149.8 million, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc ended with a turnover of 1.8 million units worth N119.8 million.
The most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis was Geo-Fluids Plc with 29.2 million units exchanged for N149.8 million, followed by CSCS Plc with 17.7 million units traded for N752.8 million, and Mass Telecom Innovation Plc with 15.1 million units valued at N6.1 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange weakened further by 1.75 per cent on Tuesday, August 18, triggered by losses recorded by the duo of Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc and Food Concepts Plc.
CSCS Plc, the Nigerian securities depository company, lost N8.48 to settle at N90.02 per share compared with the previous value of N98.50 per share, while Food Concepts Plc, the parent company of fast food franchise, Chicken Republic, dropped 15 Kobo to end at N2.35 per unit versus N2.50 per unit.
Consequently, the NASD Security Index (NSI) further declined by 77.26 points to 4,348.76 points from Monday’s 4,426.02 points, while the market capitalisation dipped by N46.37 billion to N2.610 trillion from N2.656 trillion.
During the session, the volume of securities bought and sold by investors slumped by 82.6 per cent to 113,728 units from the previous session’s 652,081 units, and the value of securities slid by 12.4 per cent to N9.4 million from the preceding day’s N10.7 million, while the number of deals increased by 47.6 per cent to 31 deals from 21 deals.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units traded for N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 79.7 million units transacted for N5.8 billion.
GNI Plc was also the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, trailed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units worth N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units exchanged for N415.7 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The value of the Nigerian Naira further appreciated against the US Dollar by N6.22 or 0.46 per cent in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Tuesday, August 18, to N1,343.32/$1 from the previous rate of N1,349.54/$1.
This occurred amid steady growth in Nigeria’s external reserves, rising to $52.32 billion as of August 17, 2026, giving the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) enough arsenal to defend the local currency when the need arises in the FX market.
Also, the domestic currency improved its value against the Pound Sterling in the official market yesterday by N10.85 to close at N1,819.26/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,830.11/£1, and gained N8.55 on the Euro to sell at N1,556.24/€1 versus Monday’s N1,564.79/€1.
In the same vein, the Naira appreciated against the Dollar in the black market during the trading session by N5 to quote at N1,390/$1, in contrast to the N1,395/$1 it was traded a day earlier, and strengthened at the GTBank forex desk by N7 to N1,357/$1 from N1,364/$1.
NAFEM interbank FX turnover declined as financial institutions’ activities moderated. Interbank FX turnover dropped by 16.6 per cent to $364.709 million from $437.529 million, with the number of deals down by 39.3 per cent to 108 deals from 178 deals.
As for the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin (BTC) traded at $64,120.36, as most other major cryptocurrencies closed in the green amid a global selloff in chip stocks.
An Asian semiconductor gauge dropped more than 3 per cent, following a 5 per cent slide in the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index on Tuesday, its worst session since late July, while investors await US Federal Reserve minutes and are widely expecting no rate change in September.
Solana (SOL) gained 1.4 per cent to sell at $76.66, Cardano (ADA) added 0.9 per cent to trade at $0.1748, Ethereum (ETH) grew by 0.6 per cent to $1,905.54, Ripple (XRP) appreciated by 0.4 per cent to sell at $0.9986, TRON (TRX) improved by 0.3 per cent to $0.3327, and Dogecoin (DOGE) soared by 0.2 per cent to $0.0698.
However, Binance Coin (BNB) depreciated by 0.4 per cent to $600.88, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited has recently struggled to regain its spark due to continued selling pressure from investors reducing their exposure to equities in favour of fixed-income investment instruments.
Yesterday, the stock market further shed 0.35 per cent on the back of profit-taking in the banking sector, which closed lower by 1.83 per cent. The consumer goods space lost 0.13 per cent, and the energy counter depreciated by 0.01 per cent, while the insurance index gained 0.04 per cent, with the industrial goods segment closing flat.
Business Post reports that the All-Share Index (ASI) decreased on Tuesday by 843.42 points to 241,611.23 points from 242,454.65 points, and the market capitalisation shrank by N545 billion to N155.973 trillion from N156.518 trillion.
Like the previous session, investor sentiment was weak after Customs Street ended with 22 price gainers and 37 price losers, indicating a negative market breadth index.
Red Star Express weakened by 10.00 per cent to N16.20, Trans-Nationwide Express crashed by 9.94 per cent to N2.81, Meyer depleted by 9.88 per cent to N15.05, Chellarams plunged by 9.77 per cent to N9.70, and Fortis Global Insurance moderated by 9.70 per cent to N2.14.
On the flip side, Haldane McCall surged by 9.97 per cent to N3.20, Veritas Kapital climbed by 7.09 per cent to N1.36, Tantalizers rose by 5.26 per cent to N4.00, RT Briscoe appreciated by 4.31 per cent to N10.90, and Regency Alliance grew by 3.66 per cent to 85 Kobo.
A look at the activity chart for the day showed the volume of transactions significantly retreated by 66.94 per cent as a result of the absence of big-ticket trades, and the number of deals dropped by 21.57 per cent, while the value of trades increased by 20.09 per cent.
Market participants traded 429.8 million stocks valued at N27.5 billion in 35,683 deals during the session compared with the 1.3 billion stocks worth N22.9 billion transacted in 45,494 deals on Monday.
Sterling Holdings led the activity chart with a turnover of 51.6 million units for N390.6 million. FCMB traded 50.0 million units worth N584.8 million, Chams sold 32.4 million units valued at N134.5 million, Veritas Kapital exchanged 180 million units for N24.3 million, and First Holdco transacted 17.0 million units worth N2.2 billion.
