Economy
NGX Index Remains in Bears Territory, Sheds 0.06% Friday
By Dipo Olowookere
For the third consecutive trading session, the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited closed bearish on Friday following a 0.06 per cent influenced by sustained profit-taking.
The absence of a positive trigger left the market in the hands of the bears as investor bias remained negative with 20 price gainers and 19 price losers.
Royal Exchange suffered the highest decline during the session, losing 9.40 per cent to trade at N1.35 and was followed by McNichols, which fell by 9.09 per cent to trade at 70 kobo.
Lasaco Assurance depreciated by 8.85 per cent to sell for N1.03, Niger Insurance lost 8.00 per cent to finish at 23 kobo, while Chams declined by 4.55 per cent to 21 kobo.
On the flip side, John Holt ended the session as the biggest price riser, appreciating by 8.86 per cent to close at 86 kobo, Regency Assurance grew by 7.69 per cent to 42 kobo, Linkage Assurance improved by 7.41 per cent to 58 kobo, Consolidated Hallmark Insurance appreciated by 5.36 per cent to 59 kobo, while United Capital gained 5.30 per cent to sell for N13.90.
Business Post reports that FCMB ended the trading day as the busiest stock, trading 25.0 million shares valued at N84.5 million, with Zenith Bank trailing for trading 13.0 million equities worth N345.0 million.
FBN Holdings transacted 12.8 million shares valued at N142.1 million, United Capital transacted 10.2 million stocks worth N140.1 million, while Courteville exchanged 9.7 million equities for N5.8 million.
In all, a total of 179.3 million equities worth N2.1 billion exchanged hands in 4,654 deals on the last trading session of the week compared with the 243.4 million equities worth N6.9 million transacted in 7,056 deals on Thursday.
This indicated that the volume of shares transacted by investors went down by 26.33 per cent, the value of stocks traded by market participants declined by 69.12 per cent and the number of deals carried out by traders decreased by 34.04 per cent.
However, the performance of the five key sectors of the bourse did not reflect the general outcome of the market yesterday as the insurance counter grew by 0.60 per cent, the energy space rose by 0.24 per cent, the consumer goods index appreciated by 0.13 per cent, while the industrial goods counter closed flat.
It was only the banking landscape that closed bearish on Friday as it went down by 0.66 per cent.
When the market closed for the day by 2:30 pm, the All-Share Index (ASI) shrank by 27.46 points to 47,268.61 points from 47,296.07 points, while the market capitalisation declined by N15 billion to N25.475 trillion from N25.490 trillion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange suffered its fifth decline for this week on Friday after it closed lower by 0.09 per cent, with the Unlisted Security Index (NSI) down by 8.91 points to 3,639.10 points from 3,642.22 points and the market capitalisation declining by N1.86 billion to end N2.177 trillion compared with the previous day’s N2.179 trillion.
Yesterday, the bourse recorded three price losers led by NASD Plc, which crumbled by N4.00 to close at N55.00 per share compared with the previous day’s N59.00 per share, as FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc depreciated by 68 Kobo to N66.23 per unit from Thursday’s closing price of N66.91 per unit, as Mass Telecom Innovation Plc lost 4 Kobo to end at 40 Kobo per share versus the preceding day’s 44 Kobo per share.
On the flip side, there were two price gainers led by Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, which added 21 Kobo to close at N40.81 per unit compared with the previous session’s N40.60 per share and UBN Property Plc, which improved by 10 Kobo to N2.09 per share from N1.99 per share.
During the session, the level of activity increased as the the volume of transactions surged by 255.7 per cent to 10.2 million units from 2.9 million units, the value of trades soared by 122.0 per cent to N189.5 million from N85.4 million, and the number of deals increased by 22.5 per cent to 49 deals from the previous day’s 40 deals.
When the bourse ended for the day, CSCS Plc remained the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 10.5 million units worth N427.7 million, trailed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 893,553 units traded for N60.1 million, and MRS Oil Plc with 291,801 units valued at N58.3 million.
However, CSCS Plc took over as the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 10.5 million units old for N427.7 million, as Geo-Fluids Plc slipped to second place with 7.7 million units worth N52.4 million, and Mass Telecom Innovation Plc occupied the third spot with 6.2 million units transacted for N2.5 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira appreciated against the US Dollar by 44 Kobo or 0.03 per cent in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, January 24 to sell for N1,421.63/$1 compared with the N1,422.07/$1 it was traded on Thursday.
This was buoyed by increased FX inflows from exporters as well as sustained Dollar volume from non-bank corporate, individual and other sources.
However, the Naira lost N15.61 against the Pound Sterling in the same market window yesterday to quote at N1,924.17/£1 compared with the previous day’s value of N1,908.56/£1 and depreciated against the Euro by N3.60 to finish at N1,669.56/€1 versus the N1,665.96/€1 it was exchanged a day earlier.
At the GTBank forex counter, the Nigerian currency traded flat against its American counterpart at N1,430/$1, and also maintained stability against the greenback at the parallel market segment during the session at N1,485/$1.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market took a hit as slowdown occurred, explained by large holders taking profits.
The market had seen a short lived boost after Japanese intervention sent the Yen surging against the US Dollar, a move some saw as a necessary step toward resuming a bull market in crypto.
However, investors took profit with Dogecoin (DOGE) down by 0.8 per cent to $0.1240, and Cardano (ADA) down by 0.7 per cent to $0.3585.
Further, Solana (SOL) dropped 0.6 per cent to sell at $126.89, Litecoin (LTC) depreciated by 0.5 per cent to $68.42, and Binance Coin (BNB) fell by 0.1 per cent to $890.13.
But, Ripple (XRP) appreciated by 0.4 per cent to $1.91, Ethereum (ETH) rose by 0.3 per cent to $2,953.72, and Bitcoin (BTC) grew by 0.1 per cent to $89,477.58, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The House of Representatives Minority Caucus Ad-hoc Committee on Tax Laws on the Allegations of Illegal Alterations on the Gazetted Tax Laws has released an interim report on its findings, accusing the executive arm of government of removing and inserting some items in the bills passed by the parliament.
The chairman of the 7-man panel, Mr Afam Victor Ogene, in the report released on Friday, said the laws were altered after they were transmitted to the executive by the National Assembly for assent by President Bola Tinubu.
Recall that a member of the green chamber of the parliament, Mr Abdulsamad Dasuki, raised an alarm on the discrepancies in the gazetted version and the one passed by the legislative arm of government.
The Minority Caucus of the House of Reps, headed by Mr Kingsley Chinda, in a statement on December 28, 2025, vowed to “unconditionally protect the independence of the legislature and our democracy.”
It then constituted the committee on January 2, 2026, to get to the roots of all the issues surrounding the scandal.
The next day, the lower chamber of the National Assembly, through its spokesman, Mr Akintunde Rotimi, released a statement announcing that the Speaker, Mr Abbas Tajudeen, had directed the release of the four tax reform Acts; The Nigeria Tax Act, 2025; The Nigeria Tax Administration Act, 2025; The National Revenue Service (Establishment) Act, 2025; and The Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Act, 2025, duly signed into law by the President, for public record, verification, and reference.
The statement further added that the Speaker has also ordered an internal verification and immediate public release of the Certified Acts to eliminate doubts, restore clarity, and protect the sanctity of the legislature.
In its report yesterday, the panel said it discovered some alterations in the gazetted version, noting that, “given the anomalies, illegalities, and impunity observed, which clearly undermine the National Assembly’s constitutional powers and democracy, the committee finds the current evidence sufficient to warrant a deeper investigation. This will ensure accountability for the affront against the legislature.”
“To achieve this, the committee respectfully requests an extension to conduct a more thorough examination of the matter,” it added.
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