Economy
Nigerian Equity Market Extends Rally by 0.58% Amid Weak Sentiment
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited consolidated its gains on Thursday with a 0.58 per cent appreciation amid weak investor sentiment triggered by a further rise in inflation.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) yesterday said the average prices of goods and services increased by 29.90 per cent in January 2024 compared with 28.92 per cent in December 2023.
The rising food prices in the country were attributed to this, and this development only makes investors continue to shop for asset classes that can beat the high inflation rate.
This affected the level of activity at the equity market on Thursday as the trading volume, value and the number of deals waned by 33.36 per cent, 42.98 per cent, and 5.62 per cent, respectively.
Business Post reports that traders bought and sold 284.5 million equities worth N6.9 billion in 8,168 deals versus the 426.9 million equities worth N12.1 billion traded a day earlier in 8,654 deals.
The busiest stock for the day was GTCO with a turnover of 56.6 million units valued at N2.2 billion, followed by Transcorp with the sale of 33.2 million units worth N418.3 million, UBA exchanged 18.4 million units for N453.0 million, Mutual Benefits transacted 16.8 million units worth N11.5 million, and AXA Mansard traded 12.5 million units valued at N75.6 million.
Investor sentiment was weak yesterday as the bourse closed with 26 price losers and 24 price gainers, implying a negative market breadth index.
The biggest price gainer was University Press, growing by 9.96 per cent to N2.87 trailed by Juli, which soared by 9.84 per cent to N1.34. Mutual Benefits appreciated by 9.38 per cent to 70 Kobo, DAAR Communications expanded by 8.82 per cent to 74 Kobo, and Honeywell Flour increased by 7.50 per cent to N4.30.
Conversely, Unilever Nigeria was the biggest price loser after it shed 9.80 per cent to close at N16.10, Julius Berger declined by 9.64 per cent to N50.60, Morison Industries crashed by 9.60 per cent to N2.73, May & Baker decreased by 6.52 per cent to N6.45, and NASCON went down by 5.37 per cent to N59.05.
The banking sector suffered a loss of 1.32 per cent during the session, though this did not affect the outcome of the market.
This was because the industrial goods space jumped by 1.95 per cent, the consumer goods index improved by 0.22 per cent, and the insurance counter gained 0.18 per cent, while the energy sector closed flat.
As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) moved up by 601.72 points to 104,100.00 points from 103,498.28 points, as the market capitalisation surged by N329 billion to N56.962 trillion from N56.633 trillion.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
One of the paint makers in Nigeria, Premier Paints Plc, is currently in talks with a new investor, Xenergi Limited, for the purchase of 51 per cent stake in the company.
Xenergi Limited intends to acquire shares of Clover Global Resources Limited and TGHL Capital Limited in the organisation.
Business Post gathered that the new investor will buy 39.02 per cent from Clover Global Resources Limited and 15.20 per cent from TGHL Capital Limited.
The deal, according to a regulatory notice issued on Tuesday on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited, will involve about 63 million shares of Premier Paints.
At the current share price of the paint producer, this should be about N630 million as it closed at N10.00 per unit on NGX on December 16, 2025.
“Subject to obtaining required regulatory approvals, the transaction is expected to close before January 31, 2026.
“The company will continue to inform the public of the progress of the transaction,” the disclosure signed by the company secretary, Alozie Nwokoro, said.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira was flat against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Tuesday, December 16, retaining the previous closing value of N1,451.82/$1.
In the same vein, the local currency saw no movement against the Pound Sterling and the Euro in the spot market during the session at N1,943.98/£1 and N1,705.74/€1, respectively.
Also, the Nigerian Naira remained unchanged in the black market yesterday at N1,475/$1 and was N1,460/$1 at the GTBank forex counter.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has strengthened US Dollar supply with $250 million to authorised dealer banks at the official window cumulatively as foreign portfolio investors, exporters and non-bank corporate supply dripped.
The spread between official and other non-regulated markets decreased to N30.59$/1 from N44.57/$1, from the previous week, research subsidiary of Coronation Merchant Bank Limited said in a report.
FX analysts said foreign exchange inflows through the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market decreased to $716.3 million from $844.70 million in the previous week , a 15 per cent drop in a week.
Foreign portfolio investors accounted for the highest share of inflows at 32.98 per cent, followed by exporters at 30.84 per cent, the CBN (17.36 per cent), Non-bank Corporates (16.94 per cent), others (0.72 per cent) and Individuals (0.63 per cent).
On Monday, Nigeria’s headline inflation rate eased to 14.45 per cent in November 2025, down from 16.05 per cent recorded in October, according to the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), representing a decrease of 1.6 percentage points month-on-month and marks a significant moderation compared to the same period last year.
As for the cryptocurrency market, there was some recoveries after overall capitalization falling below $3 trillion for the third time in a month. Large-cap assets, particularly those with Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) exposure, are experiencing selling pressure as institutional investors reassess risk.
Ripple (XRP) appreciated by 1.5 per cent to $1.92, Litecoin (LTC) expanded by 1.5 per cent to $78.91, Dogecoin (DOGE) rose by 0.8 per cent to $0.1308, Solana (SOL) went up by 0.4 per cent to $127.60, Binance Coin (BNB) grew by 0.3 per cent to $865.40, and Bitcoin (BTC) gained 0.2 per cent to sell at $86,735.17.
On the flip side, Cardano (ADA) depreciated by 1.0 per cent to $0.3802 and Ethereum (ETH) slumped by 0.4 per cent to $2,935.85, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) were flat at $1.00 each.
By Dipo Olowookere
A marginal 0.01 per cent rise was recorded by the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Tuesday. This was different from the flattish mode of the market the previous day.
Investor sentiment remained bullish as Customs Street finished with 31 price gainers and 26 price losers, implying a positive market breadth index.
Aluminium Extrusion topped the gainers’ log after it improved its price by 10.00 per cent to N9.35, Guinness Nigeria appreciated by 9.98 per cent to N263.40, Multiverse expanded by 9.95 per cent to N12.15, MeCure Industries also soared by 9.95 per cent to N45.85, and Sovereign Trust Insurance advanced by 9.89 per cent to N4.11.
Conversely, Haldane McCall led the losers’ chart after it shed 9.93 per cent to settle at N3.72, Veritas Kapital lost 9.09 per cent to close at N1.60, LivingTrust Mortgage Bank also declined by 9.09 per cent to N3.50, and Linkage Assurance depreciated by 5.71 per cent to N1.65.
During the trading day, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 21.23 points to 149,459.11 points from the previous day’s 149,437.88 points and the market capitalisation increased by N14 billion to N95.281 trillion from N95.267 trillion.
Yesterday, traders transacted 1.0 billion equities for N21.8 billion in 23,701 deals compared with the 553.1 million equities valued at N13.3 billion traded in 28,907 deals on Monday, representing a decline in the number of deals by 18.01 per cent, and a surge in the trading volume and value by 80.80 per cent and 63.91 per cent apiece.
Access Holdings traded 385.8 million stocks worth N7.7 billion, Champion Breweries transacted 111.8 million shares valued at N817.8 million, Sterling Holdings exchanged 85.5 million equities for N589.9 million, FCMB sold 74.7 million shares valued at N791.5 million, and First Holdco transacted 51.9 million equities worth N1.8 billion.
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