Economy
Nigerian Stocks Attract N28.868bn Transactions in Three Days
By Dipo Olowookere
Investors bought and sold 1.183 billion stocks worth N28.868 billion in 42,397 deals on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited last week compared with the 7.521 billion stocks valued at N398.949 billion transacted a week earlier in 61,312 deals.
The bourse only opened for three trading days in the due to the public holiday declared by the Nigerian government on Monday, March 31, and Tuesday, April 1, 2025, to commemorate Eid el Fitr celebration after the one-month long Ramadan.
The market participants were mainly interested in financial stocks, especially as some of them churned out impressive financial performance in 2024, proposing dividends to shareholders.
Business Post reports that the sector led the activity chart in the three-day trading week with 906.590 million units sold for N18.926 billion in 22,876 deals, contributing 76.60 per cent and 65.56 per cent to the total trading volume and value, respectively.
The consumer goods shares recorded a turnover of 71.059 million units worth N 2.224 billion in 3,394 deals, and the services stocks traded 47.305 million units valued at N396.897 million in 2,132 deals.
The trio of Fidelity Bank, Zenith Bank, and Universal Insurance dominated the log with a turnover of 264.627 million shares worth N5.932 billion in 5,714 deals, contributing 22.36 per cent and 20.55 per cent to the total trading volume and value, respectively.
The biggest price gainer for the week was VFD Group with an appreciation of 20.76 per cent to N57.00, Union Dicon gained 19.59 per cent to finish at N5.80, Africa Prudential soared by 15.71 per cent to N15.10, NGX Group leapt by 11.90 per cent to N32.45, and UPDC REIT grew by 10.91 per cent to N6.10.
Conversely, UAC Nigeria lost 18.31 per cent to sell for N29.00, Sunu Assurances tripped by 13.38 per cent to N5.76, Universal Insurance depreciated by 13.33 per cent to 52 Kobo, Oando fell by 13.13 per cent to N42.00, and Consolidated Hallmark slipped by 12.85 per cent to N3.12.
At the close of trading in the week, 23 equities appreciated versus 43 equities in the previous week, 51 shares declined versus 36 shares a week earlier, and 73 stocks remained unchanged versus 71 stocks in the preceding week.
The All-Share Index (ASI) and the market capitalisation depreciated by 0.14 per cent and 0.17 per cent each to close the week at 105,511.89 points and N66.147 trillion, respectively.
In the same vein, all other indices closed lower except the corporate governance, banking, pension, AseM, AFR bank value, MERI value, sovereign bond and pension broad indices, which gained 0.13 per cent, 0.22 per cent, 0.22 per cent, 0.06 per cent, 1.02 per cent, 0.32 per cent, 0.12 per cent and 0.02 per cent, respectively while the commodity index closed flat.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange closed flat on Wednesday, August 5, as the market witnessed weaker trading activity with only two deals executed.
In the midweek session, the volume of securities exchanged by investors dropped 99.9 per cent to 802 units from the 1.6 million units recorded on Tuesday. The value of securities further decreased by 99.6 per cent to N208,240 from the preceding session’s N47.6 million, and the number of deals significantly went down by 93.9 per cent to two deals from the 33 deals recorded a day earlier.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained 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 Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc with 76.9 million units transacted for N5.5 billion.
GNI Plc was also the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units exchanged for N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million.
There were no price gainers or losers yesterday.
As a result, the market capitalisation stood unmoving at N2.739 trillion, while the NASD Security Index (NSI) remained unchanged at 4,563.96 points.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira slid against the US Dollar by N2.28 or 0.17 per cent in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Wednesday, August 5, to N1,363.85/$1 from N1,362.55/$1.
The local currency also declined against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N5.97 to close at N1,837.38/£1 compared with Tuesday’s closing rate of N1,831.41/£1, and against the Euro, it crashed by N6.54 to quote at N1,575.25/€1 versus the preceding session’s N1,568.71/€1.
But at the black market, the Nigerian Naira traded flat against the greenback yesterday at N1,400/$1, and also remained unchanged at the GTBank FX desk at N1,373/$1.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says rates have narrowed to below two per cent, while the country’s external reserves have risen above $52.5 billion, reflecting the impact of its ongoing monetary and foreign exchange reforms.
CBN Governor Yemi Cardoso, represented by the Acting Director of Corporate Communications and Investor Relations, Mrs Hakama Sidi-Ali, disclosed this on Tuesday during the CBN Fair in Gombe. He noted that reforms introduced since 2023 had significantly reduced the disparity between the official FX market and the parallel market.
“The Naira continues to strengthen, with the spread between official and Bureau de Change rates now below two per cent,” he said, adding that reserves at $52.5 billion were supported by sustained inflows and renewed investor confidence in the economy.
Interbank FX transactions slid as weaker market activities dropped total Dollar volume exchanged to $75.35 million, a 51.8 per cent decline from $156.23 million in turnover quoted at the previous close.
The deals at the NFEM window also fell as data from the central bank put Wednesday’s quote at 82 from 139.
In the cryptocurrency market, major were down as global risk sentiment softened as a key world equity index slipped and chipmakers fell.
The MSCI All Country World Index snapped a five-day run to fall 0.2 per cent as chipmakers retreated on both sides of the Pacific. South Korea’s Kospi, a bellwether for the AI trade, dropped 4.4 per cent.
Ripple (XRP) depleted by 1.7 per cent to $1.05, Binance Coin (BNB) decreased by 1.0 per cent to $594.87, Cardano (ADA) depreciated by 0.9 per cent to $0.1884, TRON (TRX) shrank by 0.2 per cent to $0.3261, Solana (SOL) crumbled by 0.1 per cent to $74.00, and Dogecoin (DOGE) went down by 0.1 per cent to $0.0697.
On the flip side, Ethereum (ETH) gained 2.3 per cent to trade at $1,911.41, and Bitcoin (BTC) rose by 0.8 per cent to $64,759.28, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.
By Dipo Olowookere
The domestic stock exchange rebounded by 0.05 per cent on Wednesday on the back of renewed bargain-hunting by investors, though the level of activity waned.
After bleeding for a few days, the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited heaved a sigh of relief yesterday, as the All-Share Index (ASI) gained 109.41 points to close at 244,912.24 points compared with the previous day’s 244,802.83 points, and the market capitalisation garnered N71 billion to settle at N158.087 trillion versus Tuesday’s N158.016 trillion.
Business Post reports that despite the rebound recorded by Customs Street at midweek, the market breadth index remained negative, as there were 20 price advancers and 29 price decliners, implying bearish investor sentiment.
Linkage Assurance appreciated by 9.94 per cent to N1.77, AVA Capital rose by 9.55 per cent to N10.90, Fortis Global Insurance advanced by 7.69 per cent to N2.80, McNichols gained 7.34 per cent to finish at N5.85, and Coronation Insurance surged by 5.51 per cent to N2.49.
Conversely, Honeywell Flour depreciated by 9.94 per cent to N16.30, PZ Cussons gave up 9.94 per cent to trade at N74.75, Zichis crashed by 9.74 per cent to N20.76, Learn Africa slipped by 9.62 per cent to N9.40, and Neimeth tumbled by 8.33 per cent to N8.25.
The busiest equity was FCMB, with a turnover of 369.2 million units valued at N4.1 billion. Chams transacted 46.7 million units worth N201.8 million, First Holdco transacted 43.5 million units for N5.7 billion, Access Holdings sold 29.8 million units worth N778.0 million, and Linkage Assurance exchanged 19.6 million units valued at N33.5 million.
At the close of transactions, market participants bought and sold 824.1 million units worth N25.5 billion in 48,114 deals, in contrast to the 1.6 billion units sold for N28.7 billion in 54,160 deals a day earlier, showing a shortfall in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 48.49 per cent, 11.15 per cent, and 11.16 per cent, respectively.
