Economy

Nigerian Stock Market Bleeds as NASS Saga Scares Investors

Published

8 years ago

07/08/2018

By Dipo Olowookere

The invasion of the National Assembly (NASS) by security operatives on Tuesday morning took its toll on the Nigerian stock market today.

The situation dominated the blogosphere and polity today as some lawmakers were prevented from gaining access into the complex because officials of the Department of State Services (DSS) mounted the main gate to the parliament.

Later in the day, the Director General of the DSS, Mr Lawal Daura, was fired by the Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, over the issue.

Business Post reports that at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), it was all red from when the market opened for business till when it closed for the day.

During the day’s trading, some investors, who were keeping tabs on happenings in Abuja, were selling off their stocks for cash, while few were stocking up their portfolio, taking advantage of the very low price they were getting the shares from panicking sellers.

At the close of transactions, the stock market suffered a 0.40 percent loss, leaving the Year-to-Date (YtD) gain to -4.99 percent.

Business Post reports further that the banking sector as well as the oil and gas sector suffered huge losses today. While the banking index declined by 1.08 percent, the oil and gas index depreciated by 4.69 percent.

Overall, the All-Share Index (ASI) lost 145.62 points to close at 36,333.80 points, while the market capitalization reduced by N53 billion to settle at N13.262 trillion.

However, the market breadth ended positive today with the stock market closing with 23 price gainers and 21 price losers.

The price gainers’ chart was led on Tuesday by Nigerian Breweries after its shares rose by N2.10k to settle at N103 per share.

It was followed by Flour Mills, which increased by 90 kobo to finish at N25.50k per share, and Newrest ASL Nigeria, which grew by 45 kobo to end at N4.95k per share.

Cadbury Nigeria also garnered 45 kobo to close at N9.95k per share, while United Capital appreciated by 28 kobo to settle at N3.08k per share.

On the flip side, Seplat recorded the highest price depreciation today with N60 of its share value lost to close at N650 per share.

CAP declined by N3.15k to finish at N28.35k per share, while GTBank lost 85 kobo to settle at N39.15k per share.

Lafarge fell by 60 kobo to end at N29.90k per share, while Forte Oil went down by 55 kobo to close at N23 per share.

Business Post reports that the volume of shares transacted by investors today increased by 36.07 percent, while the value of trades rose by 10.43 percent.

At the close of business, a total of 248.1 million shares were sold for N2.3 billion compared with the 182.3 million equities traded yesterday for N2 billion.

A further look at the transactions showed that the Financial Services sector led the activity chart with 207.2 million shares traded for N1.6 billion, while the Healthcare sector followed with 14.7 million equities sold for N7 million.

A deeper look at the activity chart showed that Wema Bank shares emerged the most traded, selling a total of 53.5 million units worth N37.5 million.

It was followed by GTBank, which transacted 23.4 million units for N925.1 million, and United Bank for Africa, which exchanged 22.2 million shares worth N214 million.

Diamond Bank traded 16.9 million equities valued at N21.2 million, while United Capital sold 14.2 million shares worth N43.2 million.

Investors will only hope that a calmer atmosphere tomorrow will have a positive effect on the market. Also, investors will hope that GTBank and other three other lenders release their half year earnings to lift the stock market.

Economy

Unlisted Stock Investors’ Wealth Shrinks N30bn

Published

7 hours ago

05/06/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange recorded a loss of 1.13 per cent on Thursday, June 4, shrinking the market capitalisation by N30.03 billion to N2.630 trillion from N2.660 trillion on Wednesday.

Similarly, this brought down the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 50.19 points to 4,396.08 points from the 4,446.27 points recorded a day earlier.

The loss was influenced by the overpowering of the bulls by the bears, after the bourse closed with two price gainers and three price losers, led by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, which slumped by N20.03 to sell at N190.38 per unit compared with midweek’s N210.41 per unit. Food Concepts Plc declined by 25 Kobo to trade at N2.50 per share versus the previous day’s N3.00 per share, and Acorn Petroleum Plc crumbled by 2 Kobo to end at N1.32 per unit, in contrast to the preceding session’s N1.34 per unit.

For the gainers, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc added N2.93 to close at N78.34 per share compared with the previous price of N75.41 per share, and Afriland Properties Plc gained 80 Kobo to settle at N16.80 per unit versus N16.00 per unit.

There was a slip in the volume of transactions yesterday by 46.8 per cent to 280,714 units from 527,221 units, as the value of trades dropped 66.5 per cent to N21.8 million from the preceding session’s N64.2 million, and the number of deals fell by 8.7 per cent to 42 deals from 46 deals.

Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc ended the session as the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 64.7 million units traded for N4.4 billion.

GNI Plc also finished the day as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units exchanged for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million.

Economy

McNichols, Eterna, Aradel Crash Stock Market by 0.37%

Published

7 hours ago

05/06/2026

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

The domestic stock market crashed by 0.37 per cent on Thursday as a result of the decline in the price of shares of McNichols, Eterna, Aradel Holdings, and others.

Business Post reports that investor sentiment remained weak after the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited ended the session with 25 price gainers and 31 price losers, indicating a negative market breadth index.

McNichols lost 10.00 per cent to trade at N7.74, ABC Transport slipped by 9.88 per cent to N6.20, Eterna shrank by 9.85 per cent to N29.75, Aradel Holdings depreciated by 9.51 per cent to N1,749.90, and NPF Microfinance Bank contracted by 8.45 per cent to N5.20.

On the flip side, International Energy Insurance gained 10.00 per cent to close at N6.60, Omatek improved by 9.73 per cent to N2.03, Abbey Mortgage Bank surged by 9.68 per cent to N8.50, Cutix expanded by 9.66 per cent to N3.18, and John Holt grew by 7.79 per cent to N14.90.

As for the sectorial performance, the industrial goods and banking indices chalked up 0.54 per cent and 0.31 per cent, respectively. But the energy sector depleted by 4.90 per cent, the insurance counter tumbled by 0.58 per cent, and the consumer goods index slumped by 0.03 per cent.

As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) dipped by 905.30 points to 242,227.31 points from 243,132.61 points, and the market capitalisation stumbled by N581 billion to N155.359 trillion from N155.940 trillion.

During the session, investors traded 588.5 million equities valued at N27.9 billion in 57,352 deals compared with the 923.0 million equities worth N42.3 billion transacted in 69,332 deals on Wednesday, showing a drop in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 36.24 per cent, 34.04 per cent, and 17.28 per cent, respectively.

The most active equity yesterday was Access Holdings with 109.7 million units sold for N2.6 billion, FCMB traded 35.6 million units valued at N384.2 million, NGX Group transacted 28.1 million units worth N3.9 billion, Zenith Bank exchanged 26.9 million units for N3.3 billion, and Sterling Holdings recorded a turnover of 22.5 million units worth N176.1 million.

Economy

Naira Slips 0.1% to N1,358/$1 at Official FX Market

Published

7 hours ago

05/06/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

A 0.1 per cent or N1,49 loss was recorded by the Nigerian Naira against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Thursday, June 4, closing at N1,358.75/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,347.26/$1.

In the same vein, the Naira depreciated against the Pound Sterling in the official FX market during the session by N5.39 to trade at N1,828.06/£1 versus Wednesday’s closing rate of N1,822.67/£1, but gained N6.75 against the Euro to sell at N1,574.83/€1 versus the preceding session’s N1,584.39/€1.

At the black market and GTBank FX desk, the local currency traded flat against the Dollar during the session at N1,375/$1 and N1,372/$1, respectively.

Data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) showed that NFEM interbank FX turnover contracted to $128.117 million in 121 deals on Thursday from $133.731 million the previous day.

On the positive side, Nigeria’s external reserves moved closer to a 2009 high of $50 billion, enhancing analysts’ confidence about the local currency outlook in the second half of 2026.

This improvement has been helped by heightened global uncertainty, which has reduced the incentive for importers and corporates to demand FX, as cautious trade weighs on import needs. Analysts estimate a $40 billion net FX position for the year, a projection anchored in oil windfall gains.

As for the cryptocurrency market, prices extended steep weekly losses as the broader artificial-intelligence trade that has driven global risk assets since 2026 faltered.

The sell-off was led by equity and currency markets, with semiconductor stocks, Asian indexes and several regional currencies sliding in a broad risk-off shift.

Persistent outflows from US spot Bitcoin ETFs and a rare BTC sale by Strategy have removed a key source of support, leaving markets focused on Friday’s US jobs report for clues on Federal Reserve policy and the fate of the AI trade. The most valued coin slipped 3.6 per cent to $61,914.58.

Cardano (ADA) plunged by 17.6 per cent to $0.1630, Solana (SOL) declined by 7.0 per cent to $65.69, Ethereum (ETH) slipped by 6.9 per cent to $1,666.13, Dogecoin (DOGE) went down by 6.5 per cent to $0.8445, and Ripple (XRP) crashed by 6.5 per cent to $1.11.

Further, Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 4.3 per cent to $581.45, and TRON (TRX) dropped 1.9 per cent to sell at $0.3261, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) gained 0.01 per cent each to sell at $0.9990 and $0.9998, respectively.