Economy
NGX Index Drops 0.47% as Bearish Sentiment, Profit-Taking Persist
By Dipo Olowookere
The bearish sentiment and profit-taking witnessed at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited in the past few days continued as the domestic bourse closed lower by 0.47 per cent on Wednesday.
Investors shrugged off the statement made by the spokesman to President Bola Tinubu, Mr Ajuri Ngelale, that the government would retain the current pump price of N568 per litre without returning fuel subsidy despite the landing cost and others hitting N651 per litre.
This was because his media briefing at the State House on Tuesday concerning this issue left many Nigerians confused because selling below the landing cost literarily means the shortfall would be covered by the either the oil marketers or the government.
This ambiguity further pushed stock investors to cut their exposure to the asset class, leading to the loss suffered by the equity market yesterday.
A total of 291.7 million stocks valued at N7.4 billion were traded in 6,213 deals during the midweek session, in contrast to the 280.5 million stocks valued at N4.7 billion traded in 6,296 deals on Tuesday, implying a decline in the number of deals by 1.32 per cent, and a rise in the trading volume and value by 3.99 per cent and 57.45 per cent apiece.
Unlike the preceding session, GTCO closed yesterday as the most active stock after transacting 41.8 million units worth N1.6 billion, Universal Insurance traded 22.8 million units valued at N5.2 million, UBA transacted 22.6 million units worth N315.4 million, Sterling Holdings sold 21.6 million units for N77.0 million, and Transcorp exchanged 15.7 million units valued at N62.7 million.
The heaviest price loser for the session was NEM Insurance, which crashed by 10.00 per cent to N5.40, followed by Sunu Assurances, which lost 8.51 per cent to end at 86 Kobo. Guinea Insurance lost 7.89 per cent to trade at 35 Kobo, Cornerstone Insurance fell by 7.09 per cent to N1.31, and Omatek shed 5.88 per cent to quote at 32 Kobo.
Eterna closed the trading day as the biggest price advancer after it boosted its value by 10.00 per cent to N17.60, with CWG growing by 8.61 per cent to N3.28. FTN Cocoa expanded by 6.97 per cent to N2.15, Livestock Feeds increased by 5.56 per cent to N1.90, and Vitafoam gained 4.78 per cent to trade at N21.90.
Business Post observed that the financial services sector was responsible for the loss printed by the NGX on Wednesday as the insurance index shed 2.83 per cent and banking counter dropped 0.44 per cent.
At the market yesterday, the consumer goods space appreciated by 2.42 per cent and the energy sector improved by 0.36 per cent, while the industrial goods sector closed flat.
At the close of transactions, the All-Share Index (ASI) was down by 303.70 points to 64,625.28 points from 64,928.98 points, while the market capitalisation increased by N13 billion to N35.370 trillion from N35.357 trillion due to the listing of additional shares of MTN Nigeria from the scrip dividends to shareholders.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Three securities lifted the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.38 per cent on Friday, July 3, with the NASD Security Index (NSI) up by 58.80 points to 4,307.26 points from 4,248.46 points, and the market capitalisation closing higher by N35.30 billion to N2.585 trillion from N2.549 trillion.
The price gainers were led by 11 Plc, which expanded by N20.05 to close at N220.55 per share compared with the previous day’s N200.50 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc increased by N5.36 to N151.82 per unit from N146.46 per unit, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc appreciated by N3.52 to N90.74 per share from N87.22 per share.
Yesterday, the value of transactions surged by 1,431.2 per cent to N160.1 million from the preceding session’s N10.5 million, and the volume of trades rose by 303.7 per cent to 1.8 million units from 440,653 units, while the number of deals decreased by 34.4 per cent to 21 deals from 32 deals.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc was the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units worth N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 70.7 million units transacted for N4.9 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, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units exchanged for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units traded for N415.7 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
The losing streak on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited was halted on Friday after the bourse closed higher by 2.19 per cent at the close of trading activities.
The gains reported by Nigerian stocks were buoyed by renewed bargain-hunting by investors, which resulted in all the key sectors of Customs Street ended in the green territory.
The banking space rose by 2.78 per cent, the insurance counter appreciated by 1.26 per cent, the energy segment expanded by 0.36 per cent, the consumer goods index chalked up 0.06 per cent, and the industrial goods sector grew by 0.05 per cent.
Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 4,918.37 points to 229,240.34 points from 224,321.97 points, and the market capitalisation increased by N3.156 trillion to N147.103 trillion from N143.947 trillion.
Investor sentiment was bullish after 34 stocks ended on the price gainers’ chart and 18 stocks finished on the losers’ log, representing a positive market breadth index.
The quintet of The Initiates, Universal Insurance, DAAR Communications, Omatek, and Airtel Africa surged by 10.00 per cent to sell for N25.85, 88 Kobo, N1.65, N1.76, and N5,274.00, respectively.
On the flip side, International Energy Insurance lost 9.96 per cent to trade at N4.70, Meyer shed 9.95 per cent to close at N18.55, Veritas Kapital dropped 5.07 per cent to finish at N1.31, Fidelity Bank slipped by 2.17 per cent to N18.00, and Jaiz Bank crashed by 1.84 per cent to N28.12.
During the session, a total of 414.7 million equities worth N25.1 billion exchanged hands in 47,106 deals compared with the 855.4 million equities valued at N28.4 billion transacted in the preceding day in 51,609 deals, implying a contraction in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 51.52 per cent, 11.62 per cent, and 8.73 per cent, respectively.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira closed flat against the United States Dollar at N1,370.19/$1 in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, July 3.
However, it appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the same market segment by N2.29 to settle at N1,829.88/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,832.17/£1, and marginally depreciated against the Euro by 4 Kobo to close at N1,568.32/€1 versus Thursday’s closing price of N1,568.28/€1.
At the parallel market, the Naira also traded flat against the US Dollar at N1,390/$1, and at the GTBank forex desk, it also maintained stability at N1,832/$1.
Market conditions improved shortly after the following minimal intervention by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through modest Dollar sales, which boosted liquidity and supported stronger trading activity.
Easing pressure came after half-year profit-taking tapered down, while continued stronger policy signals from the central bank add to near-term support.
Deals executed at the official market on Friday came in at $70.430 million across 82 interbank deals, from $85.517 million the previous day.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market continued its recovery after June non-farm payrolls printed at 57,000, less than half the 113,000 consensus, sending the implied probability of a September Federal Reserve rate hike from 64 per cent to 54 per cent and dragging AI stocks sharply lower.
Weak labour data reduces inflationary pressure and, by extension, the Federal Reserve’s justification for holding rates elevated. That transmission mechanism is direct: lower rate-hike odds compress the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets like crypto.
Bitcoin regained the $62,000 mark after it rose by 1.3 per cent to $62,475.29.
Cardano (ADA) gained 6.6 per cent to trade at $0.1759, Ripple (XRP) appreciated by 3.5 per cent to $1.14, Ethereum (ETH) expanded by 2.4 per cent to $1,756.82, Dogecoin (DOGE) improved by 2.1 per cent to $0.0768, Solana (SOL) chalked up 1.8 per cent to $82.65, TRON (TRX) increased by 1.5 per cent to $0.3235, and Binance Coin (BNB) soared by 1.4 per cent to $569.12, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 apiece.
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