Economy
NGX Index Rises 0.12% as Investor Sentiment Turns Bullish
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited rebounded by 0.12 per cent on Thursday on the back of a renewed bargain-hunting by investors.
The bourse closed higher during the session despite a 0.50 per cent loss suffered by the banking space due to profit-taking.
This was offset by the gains recorded by the others, especially the consumer goods index, which appreciated by 1.40 per cent at the close of business.
Further, the insurance counter improved by 0.62 per cent, and the energy sector gained 0.05 per cent, while the industrial goods and commodity indices closed flat.
When the closing gong was struck by 2:30 pm, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 130.56 points to 106,220.94 points from 106,090.38 points and the market capitalisation increased by N82 billion to N66.518 trillion from the N66.436 trillion reported a day earlier.
UPDC was the best-performing equity after chalking up 9.92 per cent to settle at N2.77, International Breweries gained 9.62 per cent to sell for N5.70, Royal Exchange expanded by 9.59 per cent to 80 Kobo, Multiverse rose by 8.81 per cent to N8.65, and NGX Group appreciated by 6.14 per cent to N32.85.
Conversely, University Press lost 10.00 per cent to finish at N4.32, Academy Press shed 9.66 per cent to trade at N2.62, Red Star Express weakened by 9.32 per cent to N5.35, Neimeth slumped by 8.33 per cent to N2.75, and C&I Leasing moderated by 4.75 per cent to N3.81.
Business Post reports that Customs Street ended with 36 price gainers and 20 price losers, representing a positive market breadth index and strong investor sentiment.
A total of 341.7 million shares valued at N16.7 billion exchanged hands in 11,233 deals yesterday versus the 1.5 billion shares worth N10.3 billion transacted a day earlier in 11,748 deals, showing a 64.14 per cent rise in the trading value, a 77.20 per cent decline in the trading volume, and a 4.38 per cent fall in the number of deals.
Tantalizers was the busiest with a turnover of 29.6 million stocks valued at N98.0 million, Access Holdings transacted 29.2 million equities for N693.3 million, Zenith Bank exchanged 28.7 million shares worth N1.4 billion, GTCO traded 26.7 million equities valued at N1.6 billion, and Universal Insurance sold 21.0 million shares worth N12.2 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is seeking a reduction in import duty exemptions, which rose to N34 trillion, limiting its ability to increase its revenue generation threshold.
The Comptroller-General of the Customs Service, Mr Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed that the value of import duty exemption certificate approvals increased to that level in 2025, describing the policy as one of the major factors restricting its revenue generation.
At an investigative session of the Senate Committee on Finance with revenue-generating agencies in Abuja on Monday, Mr Adeniyi explained that government fiscal policies have continued to impact the revenue-generating capacity of the Customs Service, both positively and negatively.
“The NCS would have generated significantly higher revenue over the years if not for government-approved import duty waivers and other external factors affecting collections,” he said.
He added that the Import Duty Exemption Certificate scheme, introduced in March 2020, accounted for about N34 trillion in approvals in 2025, with nearly 60 per cent covering duty-free importation of military hardware due to Nigeria’s prevailing security challenges.
Other government-backed duty waivers, he noted, covered the importation of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), electric and hybrid vehicles, healthcare equipment and medical supplies, industrial machinery and manufacturing inputs, as well as food import intervention programmes.
While acknowledging the impact of the waivers on Customs revenue, Mr Adeniyi argued that fiscal policy should not be assessed solely on the basis of revenue generation but also on its broader economic and social objectives.
He, however, urged the federal government to establish stronger monitoring mechanisms to ensure beneficiaries of duty waivers deliver the intended economic outcomes, including lower consumer prices, increased local production and improved healthcare access.
The committee also expressed displeasure over the absence of several heads of government agencies invited to the hearing, including the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Industrial Training Fund (ITF), and the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Jabi.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Mr Sani Musa, warned that the affected chief executives must appear at the committee’s next sitting or face severe sanctions under the Senate’s rules.
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By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange rose by 0.40 per cent on Monday, July 13, buoyed by buying interest in 11 Plc, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc and UBN Property Plc, which offset the profit-taking in Food Concepts Plc, the parent company of Chicken Republic.
11 Plc gained N20.69 to end at N227.64 per share compared with last Friday’s price of N206.95 per share, CSCS Plc grew by N1.83 to N91.48 per unit from N89.65 per unit, and UBN Property Plc added 1 Kobo to sell at N1.81 per share versus N1.80 per share.
On the flip side, Food Concepts Plc depreciated by 24 Kobo to close at N2.45 per unit, in contrast to the preceding session’s N2.69 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation increased by N9.2 billion to N2.587 trillion from N2.578 trillion, and the NASD Security Index (NSI) improved by 15.33 points to 4,311.67 points from 4,296.34 points.
Yesterday, the volume of securities traded by investors surged by 615.9 per cent to 9.1 million units from the previous 1.3 million units, and the value of securities rose by 997.1 per cent to N320.4 million from the preceding session’s N29.2 million, while the number of deals decreased by 12.5 per cent to 28 deals from last Friday’s 32 deals.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units worth N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 73.9 million units exchanged for N5.2 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units sold 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 transacted for N415.7 million.
