Economy
NGX Records First Loss in 2024, as Profit-Takers go Berserk
By Dipo Olowookere
The bears chased out the bulls on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Wednesday, inflicting the first loss of the year on the bourse at the close of transactions.
Business Post reports that Customs Street crumbled by 1.40 per cent in the midweek session after staying in green territory for eight straight trading sessions, stretching from the last week of 2023.
It was observed that the loss suffered by the NGX yesterday was due to profit-taking activities by investors, particularly in the financial sector, as traders quickly liquidated some of the stocks in the ecosystem after gains in the past few weeks.
Analysis of the market data for the day showed that the banking counter went down by 7.97 per cent, the insurance space fell by 6.12 per cent, and the energy index depreciated by 0.40 per cent.
However, bargain-hunting activity remained as the consumer goods sector improved by 2.45 per cent and the industrial goods counter appreciated by 1.39 per cent.
At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) depleted by 1,167.46 points to 82,024.38 points from 83,191.84 points, and the market capitalisation went down by N639 billion to N44.885 trillion from N45.524 trillion.
Investor sentiment was strongly bearish yesterday after 62 equities ended on the losers’ table and 13 equities closed on the gainers’ chart, indicating a negative market breadth index.
The quintet of Caverton, Chams, May & Baker, FTN Cocoa, and Consolidated Hallmark lost 10.00 per cent each during the session to settle at N2.07, N2.16, N5.49, N1.98, and N1.35, respectively.
However, Cadbury Nigeria rose by 9.92 per cent to N19.95, Veritas Kapital gained 9.76 per cent to quote at 45 Kobo, Linkage Assurance grew by 8.70 per cent to N1.50, Transcorp Hotels appreciated by 7.24 per cent to N100.00, and Prestige Assurance went up by 6.00 per cent to 53 Kobo.
At the market on Wednesday, the volume of transactions increased by 14.29 per cent to 1.6 billion units from 1.4 billion units, the value of trades marginally grew by 2.83 per cent to N25.4 billion from N24.7 billion, and the number of deals rose by 17.96 per cent to 20,223 deals from 17,144 deals.
The most active stock for the session was Transcorp, which sold 117.6 million units valued at N1.5 billion, Access Holdings exchanged 116.7 million units for N3.3 billion, Sterling Holdings traded 116.3 million units worth N775.0 million, Jaiz Bank transacted 110.1 million units valued at N282.7 million, and AIICO exchanged 91.8 million units worth N127.9 million.
Economy
BNB Price Reflects Changing Dynamics in the Digital Asset Market
Economy
NASD Unlisted Security Index Crosses 4,000-point Benchmark Again
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange achieved a milestone on Friday, April 24, 2026, after five securities on the platform helped with a 1.85 per cent growth.
Data showed that the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) again crossed the 4,000-point benchmark yesterday.
The index chalked up 73.64 points during the trading day to close at 4,052.59 points compared with the preceding session’s 3,978.95 points, while the market capitalisation added N5.38 billion to finish at N2.424 trillion versus Thursday’s closing value of N2.380 trillion.
The price gainers were led by Okitipupa Plc, which grew by N25.00 to sell at N305.00 per share compared with the previous price of N280.00 per share. Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc gained N6.92 to close at N76.26 per unit versus N69.34 per unit, Afriland Properties Plc appreciated by N1.00 to N17.00 per share from N18.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc improved by 55 Kobo to N99.55 per unit from N99.00 per unit, and Food Concepts Plc increased by 5 Kobo to N2.70 per share from N2.65 per share.
However, there was a price loser, MRS Oil, which dipped by N21.75 to N195.75 per unit from N217.50 per unit.
During the final session of the week, the value of securities jumped 75.2 per cent to N41.3 million from N23.6 million units, and the number of deals expanded by 62.9 per cent to 44 deals from 27 deals, while the volume of securities declined marginally by 0.9 per cent to 447,403 units from 451,522 units.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc was the most traded stock by volume (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, trailed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units traded for N1.2 billion.
GNI was also the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 59.6 million units transacted for N4.0 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.8 million units exchanged for N1.9 billion.
Economy
Naira Slips to N1,358/$1 as FX Reserves, Policy Uncertainty Concerns
By Adedapo Adesanya
It was not a good day for the Nigerian Naira in the currency market on Friday, April 24, as its value depreciated against the major foreign currencies at the close of transactions.
In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX), it lost N4.53 or 0.33 per cent against the United States Dollar yesterday to trade at N1,358.44/$1, in contrast to the N1,353.91/$1 it was exchanged on Thursday.
Equally, the domestic currency slipped against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N8.14 to close at N1,834.02/£1, compared with the previous rate of N1,825.88/£1 and dropped N8.01 against the Euro to sell at N1,590.73/€1 versus N1,582.72/€1.
Also, the Naira depreciated against the US Dollar at the GTBank FX desk on Friday by N4 to quote at N1,370/$1 compared with the previous session’s N1,366/$1, and at the parallel market, it depleted by N5 to settle at N1,380/$1 versus the preceding day’s N1,375/$1.
Data published by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) indicated that NFEM interbank turnover surged to N43.562 million across 68 deals, up from N28.117 million the previous day.
Despite the CBN’s reassurance that the recent drop in external reserves is not worrisome, the market remains unsettled by persistent concerns over liquidity constraints, policy transparency, and weakening confidence in Nigeria’s FX market as gross reserves continue to decline to $48.4 billion.
The outlook for the Dollar appears supported by broader macro risks, including elevated oil prices tied to the tanker traffic disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and a continued US-Iran standoff over ceasefire negotiations.
A look at the digital currency market showed that investors are sitting on the edge as the US Dollar rebounded amid geopolitical and inflation risks despite continued inflows into US spot bitcoin Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).
Solana (SOL) rose by 1.2 per cent to sell $86.45, Cardano (ADA) appreciated by 1.1 per cent to $0.2517, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 0.9 per cent to $0.0989, Ripple (XRP) improved by 0.3 per cent to $1.43, Ethereum (ETH) soared by 0.2 per cent to $2,316.83, and Binance Coin (BNB) chalked up 0.1 per cent to sell for $637.44.
However, TRON (TRX) depreciated by 1.3 per cent to $0.3235, and Bitcoin (BTC) lost 0.2 per cent to close at $77,562.27, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.
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