Economy

Nigerian Equities Recover from Four-Day Sell-Offs, up by 1.72%

Published

8 years ago

29/03/2018

By Dipo Olowookere

Nigerian shares snapped a four-day losing streak on Thursday ahead of the Easter break, which begins tomorrow, to appreciate by 1.72 percent.

This came as earnings updates continued to impress investors, who had waited patiently for massive release of results today, being the last day for release of 2017 earnings as well as the last trading day of the month of March 2018.

Earlier results released by some market heavyweights had failed to inspire investors as most of them churned out what traders were already expecting with no surprises.

Business Post reports that today’s trading was positive with investors embarking on bargain hunting as they continue to pick up stocks, which had suffered price depreciation in the last four days due to sell-offs.

It was observed that gains recorded by stocks in the consumer goods, oil and gas and banking sectors were enough to overturn losses recorded by Lafarge, Zenith Bank and C&I Leasing.

At the close of business on Thursday, the All-Share Index (ASI) appreciated by 702.43 points to settle at 41,504.51 points, while the market capitalisation finished at N14.993 trillion after increasing by N252.9 billion today.

In addition, the year-to-date returns expanded to 8.53 percent, but the market breadth ended negative with 23 stocks appreciating in value against 27 equities, which declined.

Nestle Nigeria led the gainers’ table today after adding N39.70k to its share value to close at N1380 per share.

It was trailed by Total Nigeria, which appreciated by N10.70k to finish at N249 per share, and Mobil Nigeria, which garnered N8.80k to end at N185.80k per share.

Dangote Cement rose by N7 to settle at N260 per share, while Nigerian Breweries increased by N2 to close at N130 per share.

On the flip side, Lafarge emerged the heaviest price loser, going down by N1.10k to settle at N45.30k per share.

It was followed by CCNN, which fell by 95k to close at N18.70k per share, and Zenith Bank, which went down by 50k to end at N29.30k per share.

Champion Breweries declined by 18k to finish at N2.40k per share, while C&I Leasing also lost 18k to wrap the day at N1.72k per share.

The total volume of shares traded today by investors declined sharply by 49 percent, while the value inched up slightly by two percent.

A total of 272.6 million shares exchanged hands in 4,368 deals worth N3.72 billion compared with the 535.2 million equities transacted the previous session in 4,717 deals valued at N3.66 billion.

Zenith Bank emerged the most active stock at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Thursday, trading 45.3 million shares worth N1.4 billion.

It was followed by Skye Bank, which sold 33.9 million units valued at N26 million, and UBA, which exchanged 22.5 million equities for N263.5 million.

Fidelity Bank transacted 16.3 million shares for N41.9 million, while Access Bank sold 15.7 million units worth N175.7 million.

Economy

OTC Securities Exchange Falls 1.31% as Key Stocks Decline

Published

17 minutes ago

19/05/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

Three bellwether stocks weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.31 per cent on Monday, May 18.

This brought the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 54.71 points to 4,133.70 points from 4,188.41 points, and shrank the market capitalisation by N32.73 billion to N2.473 trillion from N2.506 trillion.

Yesterday, FrieslandCampina Wamco Plc contracted by N12.45 to sell at N146.55 per share compared with last Friday’s closing price of N159.00 per share, Central Securities and Clearing System (CSCS) Plc declined by N2.34 to N70.00 per unit from N72.34 per unit, and NASD Plc lost 50 Kobo to trade at N34.50 per share versus N35.00 per share.

The trio overpowered the N5.56 gained Newrest Asl Plc. This stock ended the trading session at N61.15 per unit, in contrast to the previous session’s N55.59 per unit.

During the trading day, the volume of securities traded by investors slid by 56.1 per cent to 514,142 units from 1.2 million units, and the value of securities dropped 29.8 per cent to close at N17.4 million versus N29.8 million, while the number of deals jumped 12.5 per cent to 27 deals from 24 deals.

Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 60.8 million units exchanged for N4.1 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.9 million units traded for N1.9 billion.

GNI Plc also ended the day as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis 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 transacted for N1.2 billion.

Economy

FX Pressure Pushes Naira Lower to N1,373/$1 at Official Market

Published

24 minutes ago

19/05/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

It was a horrible day for the Nigerian Naira in the different segments of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Monday, May 15, as its value further weakened against the United States Dollar.

In the black market window, the Naira lost N5 against the Dollar yesterday to sell for N1,390/$1 compared with the previous value of N1,385/$1, but at the GTBank forex counter, it remained unchanged at N1,383/$1.

In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX), the Nigerian currency depreciated against the greenback by N2.66 or 0.19 per cent to sell for N1,373.70/$1 compared to last Friday’s rate of N1,371.04/$1.

Equally, it fell against the Pound Sterling in the same market segment by N9.05 to trade at N1,839.66/£1 versus N1,830.61/£1, and lost N5.42 on the Euro to close at N1,600.49/€1 versus N1,595.07/€1.

The performance of the local currency during the session indicates early worries despite all signals pointing to stability, amid improved Dollar sales by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), with steady, higher oil receipts to bolster the nation’s reserves.

Activity at the market showed that turnover rose 57.3 per cent to $76.29 million on Monday from $48.49 million posted on Friday.

Over the weekend, S&P raised Nigeria’s credit ratings for the first time since 2012 and highlighted improved FX market liquidity and $10 billion turnover recorded in April 2026 as one of the major gains of the CBN-led FX reforms.

The agency said the liberalisation of the exchange rate has bolstered access to foreign currency and enabled a market-driven exchange-rate environment while supporting investor and consumer confidence.

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was bullish on Monday as investors monitored developments in the Iran conflict and weighed the impact of surging oil prices on inflation and US interest-rate expectations.

Ethereum (ETH) gained 0.7 per cent to trade at $2,134.10, Cardano (ADA) rose by 0.6 per cent to $0.2515, Solana (SOL) expanded by 0.3 per cent to $85.11, Binance Coin (BNB) jumped 0.2 per cent to $643.29, TRON (TRX) increased by 0.03 per cent to $0.3565, and Bitcoin (BTC) advanced by 0.02 per cent to $76,912.12.

On the flip side, Dogecoin (DOGE) slid by 1.5 per cent to $0.1044, and Ripple (XRP) decreased by 0.5 per cent to $1.38, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 apiece.

Economy

Customs Street Opens Week Bearish With 0.05% Loss

Published

33 minutes ago

19/05/2026

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

A marginal 0.05 per cent loss was recorded by Customs Street on Monday, as sell-offs by market participants remained.

This was driven by the desire of investors to book profits, having witnessed a significant price appreciation on the stocks in their portfolios.

Yesterday, bargain-hunting in the banking space, which resulted in the sector closing 0.17 per cent higher, could not prevent the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited from going down.

Data showed that the consumer goods segment lost 0.26 per cent, the insurance counter depreciated by 0.20 per cent, the industrial goods index shed 0.09 per cent, and the energy industry retreated by 0.03 per cent.

As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) eased by 126.09 points to 250,204.83 points from 250,330.92 points, and the market capitalisation contracted by N81 billion to N160.363 trillion from N160.444 trillion.

NCR Nigeria and Zichis declined by 9.99 per cent each to sell for N161.20 and N26.49, respectively, Industrial and Medical Gases shrank by 9.93 per cent to N38.10, Sovereign Trust Insurance depreciated by 9.86 per cent to N2.65, and DAAR Communications slipped by 9.78 per cent to N2.03.

On the flip side, Oando gained 10.00 per cent to finish at N51.70, University Press also rose by 10.00 per cent to N5.50, Deap Capital soared by 9.96 per cent to N5.96, May and Baker expanded by 9.94 per cent to N52.00, and Trans-Nationwide Express grew by 9.92 per cent to N7.76.

Yesterday, 800.5 million equities worth N37.1 billion exchanged hands in 87,096 deals compared with the 1.1 billion equities valued at N44.3 billion traded in 65,744 deals last Friday. This showed that the number of deals went up by 32.48 per cent, while the trading volume and value went down by 27.23 per cent and 16.25 per cent, respectively.

The most active stock on the first trading session of this week was UBA with a turnover of 65.0 million units worth N2.8 billion, Fidelity Bank traded 57.3 million units for N1.3 billion, Access Holdings sold 42.3 million units valued at N1.1 billion, DAAR Communications exchanged 36.7 million units for N81.8 million, and Secure Electronic Technology transacted 36.6 million units worth N33.0 million.