Economy
Nigeria Inflation Slightly Drops to 15.91% in October
By Dipo Olowookere
Inflation in Nigeria in the month of October 2017 marginally moderated to 15.91 percent (year-on-year) from 15.98 percent in September 2017, representing a 0.07 percent margin.
This is according to the data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Tuesday, November 15, 2017.
In the data obtained by Business Post, the drop in the inflation rate for last month is the ninth consecutive disinflation (slowdown in the inflation rate though still positive) in headline year-on-year inflation since January 2017.
According to the stats office, while average headline year-on-year inflation for the first five months of the year (January to May 2017) stood at 17.45 percent, average headline year-on-year inflation for the next five months of the year (June to October 2017), stood at 16.01 percent, indicating disinflation from June to date, compared to from January to May 2017.
On a month-on-month basis, the headline index increased by 0.76 percent in October 2017, 0.02 percent points lower from the rate of 0.78 percent recorded in September. This represents the fifth consecutive month-on-month contraction in headline inflation since May 2017.
While average headline month-on-month inflation for the first five months of the year (January to May 2017) stood at 1.54 percent, average headline month-on-month inflation for the next five months of the year (June to October 2017), stood at 1.06 percent indicating disinflation from June to date compared to from January to May 2017.
This indicates that while prices have remained high in 2017, they have tended to slow down their pace of increase since May 2017 both on a year-on-year and month-on-month basis.
The percentage change in the average composite CPI for the twelve-month period ending in October 2017 over the average of the CPI for the previous twelve-month period, which has also trended downwards since May 2017 was 16.97 percent, showing 0.2 percent point lower from 17.17 percent recorded in September 2017.
The Urban index rose by 16.19 percent (year-on-year) in October2017, up by 0.01 percent point from 16.18 percent recorded in September and the Rural index increased by 15.67 percent in October 2017 down from 15.81 percent in September 2017.
On month-on-month basis, the urban index rose by 0.82 percent in October 2017, down from 0.84 percent recorded in August, while the rural index rose by 0.72 percent in October 2017, down from 0.74 percent in September.
The corresponding twelve-month year-on-year average percentage change for the urban index was 17.57 percent in October. This was less than 17.87 percent reported in September 2017, while the corresponding rural inflation rate in October was 16.41 percent compared to 16.52 percent recorded in September 2017.
Also, high food price and food price pressure continued into September though generally at a slower pace.
The Food Index increased by 20.31 percent (year-on-year) in October, down marginally by 0.01 percent points from the rate recorded in September (20.32 percent).
While average year on year food inflation for the first five months of the year (January to May 2017) stood at 18.67 percent, average year on year food inflation for the next five months of the year (June to October 2017), was higher at 20.22 percent indicating higher food price inflation on average in the second five months of the year compared to the first five months.
On a month-on-month basis, the Food sub-index increased by 0.85 percent in October, down from 0.87 percent recorded in August.
This represents the fifth consecutive disinflation in month on month inflation since a 2017 high of 2.57 percent in May 2017. October 2017 also represents the lowest recorded month on month inflation since September 2016.
While average month on month food inflation for the first five months of the year (January to May 2017) stood at 2.01 percent, average month on month food inflation for the next five months of the year (June to October 2017), stood at 1.27 percent indicating a general slow-down in the rise in food prices from June to date compared to from January to May 2017, though the rate of price increases has remained generally higher on a year on year basis.
The average annual rate of change of the Food sub-index for the twelve-month period ending in October 2017 over the previous twelve month average was 19.14 percent, 0.26 percent points from the average annual rate of change recorded in September (18.88) percent
The rise in the food index, in October 2017 was caused by increases in prices of bread and cereals, meats, oils and fats, coffee tea and cocoa, milk cheese and eggs vegetables and fish.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange recorded a 0.65 per cent gain on Friday, December 13, boosted by three equities admitted on the trading platform.
On the last trading session of the week, Okitipupa Plc appreciated by N2.70 to settle at N29.74 per share versus Thursday’s closing price of N27.04 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc added N2.49 to end the session at N42.85 per unit compared with the previous day’s N40.36 per unit, and Afriland Properties Plc gained 50 Kobo to close at N16.30 per share, in contrast to the preceding session’s N15.80 per share.
Consequently, the market capitalisation added N6.89 billion to settle at N1.062 trillion compared with the preceding day’s N1.055 trillion and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) gained 19.66 points to wrap the session at 3,032.16 points compared with 3,012.50 points recorded in the previous session.
Yesterday, the volume of securities traded by investors increased by 171.6 per cent to 1.2 million units from the 447,905 units recorded a day earlier, but the value of shares traded by the market participants declined by 19.3 per cent to N2.4 million from the N3.02 million achieved a day earlier, and the number of deals went down by 14.3 per cent to 18 deals from 21 deals.
At the close of business, Geo-Fluids Plc was the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with a turnover of 1.7 billion units worth N3.9 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with the sale of 752.2 million units valued at N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc with 297.3 million units sold for N5.3 million.
In the same vein, Aradel Holdings Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with the sale of 108.7 million units for N89.2 billion, trailed by Okitipupa Plc with 752.2 million units valued at N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc with a turnover of 297.3 million units worth N5.3 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira appreciated further against the United States Dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) by N1.50 or 0.09 per cent to close at N1,533.00/$1 on Friday, December 13 versus the N1,534.50/$1 it was transacted on Thursday.
The local currency has continued to benefit from the Electronic Foreign Exchange Matching System (EFEMS) introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) this month.
The implementation of the forex system comes with diverse implications for all segments of the financial markets that deal with FX, including the rebound in the value of the Naira across markets.
The system instantly reflects data on all FX transactions conducted in the interbank market and approved by the CBN.
Market analysts say the publication of real-time prices and buy-sell orders data from this system has lent support to the Naira in the official market and tackled speculation.
In the official market yesterday, the domestic currency improved its value against the Pound Sterling by N12.58 to wrap the session at N1,942.19/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,954.77/£1 and against the Euro, it gained N2.44 to close at N1,612.85/€1 versus Thursday’s closing price of N1,610.41/€1.
At the black market, the Nigerian Naira appreciated against the greenback on Friday by N30 to sell for N1,650/$1 compared with the preceding session’s value of N1,680/$1.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was largely positive as investors banked on recent signals, including fresh support from US President-elect, Mr Donald Trump, as well as interest rate cuts by the European Central Bank (ECB).
Ripple (XRP) added 7.3 per cent to sell at $2.49, Binance Coin (BNB) rose by 3.5 per cent to $728.28, Cardano (ADA) expanded by 2.4 per cent to trade at $1.11, Litecoin (LTC) increased by 2.3 per cent to $122.56, Bitcoin (BTC) gained 1.9 per cent to settle at $101,766.17, Dogecoin (DOGE) jumped by 1.2 per cent to $0.4064, Solana (SOL) soared by 0.7 per cent to $226.15 and Ethereum (ETH) advanced by 0.6 per cent to $3,925.35, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
By Dipo Olowookere
For the fourth consecutive trading session, the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited closed higher on Friday by 0.63 per cent on sustained renewed buying pressure.
Apart from the energy and industrial goods sectors which closed flat, every other sector ended in the green territory, according to data obtained from the bourse.
Business Post reports that the insurance index appreciated by 1.52 per cent, the banking space improved by 0.63 per cent, and the consumer goods counter expanded by 0.46 per cent.
As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) gained 617.47 points to settle at 99,378.06 points compared with the preceding day’s 98,760.59 points and the market capitalisation went up by 375 billion to close at N60.242 trillion, in contrast to Thursday’s closing value of N59.867 trillion.
The volume of transactions on Customs Street yesterday grew by 11.13 per cent to 544.2 million shares from the 489.7 million shares transacted a day earlier.
The value of transactions increased during the session by 49.30 per cent to N10.6 billion from N7.1 billion and the number of deals went up by 1.93 per cent to 8,464 deals from the 8,304 deals posted in the previous trading session.
The busiest equity for the trading day was Japaul with the sale of 71.7 million units valued at N158.0 million, eTranzact exchanged 70.7 million units worth N477.5 million, Tantalizers sold 57.3 million units for N101.2 million, FCMB traded 33.0 million units worth N297.3 million, and Universal Insurance transacted 27.1 million units valued at N9.6 million.
A total of 36 stocks ended on the gainers’ chart, while 15 stocks finished on the losers’ table, indicating a positive market breadth index and strong investor sentiment.
The trio of Aradel Holdings, Ikeja Hotel and Caverton gained 10.00 per cent each to trade at N550.00, N8.80, and N1.98, respectively, as Africa Prudential rose by 9.87 per cent to N17.25 and Golden Guinea Breweries soared by 9.64 per cent to N8.64.
On the flip side, Austin Laz lost 10.00 per cent to close at N1.62, ABC Transport crashed by 8.00 per cent to N1.15, Royal Exchange slumped by 7.69 per cent to 60 Kobo, Secure Electronic Technology plunged by 5.26 per cent to 54 Kobo, and The Initiates crumbled by 4.26 per cent to N2.25.
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