Economy
Nigerian Stocks Down by 0.15% as Market Remains Volatile
By Dipo Olowookere
Transactions on the trading floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) remained weak today as profit-taking activities persist, extending to the second trading session of this week.
Business Post reports that the market remained volatile on Tuesday as investors continue to react to the poor 2017 earnings released by Diamond Bank Plc last week in the absence of any positive news to positively change the mood and override the shocker.
Even news of the possible passage of the 2018 budget this week by the Senate was not enough to cheer investors.
The budget report was finally laid before both the Senate and the House of Representatives today with the estimates increased to N9.12 trillion from N8.61 trillion by the lawmakers.
At the close business on Tuesday, the local went down further by 0.15 percent, reducing the Year-to-Date (YtD) returns to 6.20 percent.
The All-Share Index (ASI) depreciated by 62.19 points to settle at 40,615.42 points, while the equity capitalisation reduced by N22.5 billion to finish at N14.712 trillion.
A look at the sector performance showed that the NSE Banking Index dropped 1.35 percent as a result of the 9.39 percent loss recorded by Diamond Bank, 5.56 percent loss by Skye Bank and 4 percent loss by Zenith Bank.
However, the NSE Consumer Goods Index appreciated by 1.42 percent due to the buy interest in Nestle Nigeria, which went up by 2.81 percent; and Nigerian Breweries, which increased by 2.30 percent.
Furthermore, the NSE Industrial Index grew today by 0.08 percent mainly due to gains recorded by CAP, which rose by 2.83 percent; while the NSE Oil & Gas Index ended flat.
The Financial Services sector led the activity chart today with 159.9 million shares exchanged for N2.8 billion, while the Consumer Goods followed with 16.8 million shares traded for N1.5 billion.
GTBank emerged the most active stock at the market on Tuesday, trading a total of 37.2 million units worth N1.6 billion.
It was trailed by UBA, which sold 31.5 million shares valued at N361.1 million, and Fidelity Bank, which exchanged 14.5 million equities for N33.8 million.
Zenith Bank transacted 11.7 million shares valued at N330.5 million, while Oando sold 11.1 million equities worth N84.7 million.
In all, a total of 203.4 million shares exchanged hands on Tuesday in 4,090 deals worth N4.4 billion in contrast to the 218.8 million equities traded on Monday in 4,109 deals valued at N2.2 billion.
This showed that the volume of stocks traded at the market today decreased by 7.05 percent, while the value appreciated by 98.47 percent.
Business Post reports that the market breadth index was negative with 25 declining stocks against 12 appreciating stocks.
Zenith Bank turned out to be the day’s biggest loser after shedding N1.15k of its share value to settle at N27.60k per share.
It was trailed by FBN Holdings, which went down by 50k to close at N11.50k per share, and Oando, which declined by 35k to finish at N7.40k per share.
GTBank decreased by 30k to end at N44 per share, while Dangote Flour reduced by 25k to close at N11.25k per share.
Conversely, Nestle Nigeria topped the gainers’ chart with N43 added to its share price to close at N1573 per share.
Nigerian Breweries went up by N2.80k to end at N124.80k per share, while CAP gained N1.10k to finish at N40 per share.
Ecobank rose today by 30k to finish at N21 per share, while NPF Microfinance Bank increased by 7k to close at N1.85k per share.
By Dipo Olowookere
The local stock market firmed up by 1.13 per cent on Friday as appetite for Nigerian stocks remained strong.
Investors reacted well to the 2026 budget presentation of President Bola Tinubu to the National Assembly yesterday, especially because of the more realistic crude oil benchmark of $64 per barrel compared with the ambitious $75 per barrel for 2025. This year, prices have been between $60 and $65 per barrel.
Business Post observed profit-taking in the commodity and energy sectors as they respectively shed 0.14 per cent and 0.03 per cent.
But, bargain-hunting in the others sustained the positive run, with the consumer goods index up by 3.82 per cent.
Further, the industrial goods space appreciated by 1.46 per cent, the banking counter improved by 0.08 per cent, and the insurance industry gained 0.04 per cent.
As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 1,694.33 points to 152,057.38 points from 150,363.05 points and the market capitalisation chalked up N1.080 trillion to finish at N96.937 trillion compared with Thursday’s closing value of N95.857 trillion.
A total of 34 shares ended on the advancers’ chart, while 24 were on the laggards’ log, representing a positive market breadth index and bullish investor sentiment.
Austin Laz gained 10.00 per cent to close at N2.42, Union Dicon also jumped 10.00 per cent to N6.60, Tantalizers increased by 9.80 per cent to N2.69, Aluminium Extrusion improved by 9.78 per cent to N12.35, and Champion Breweries grew by 9.71 per cent to N16.95.
Conversely, Sovereign Trust Insurance dipped by 7.42 per cent to N3.87, Royal Exchange lost 6.84 per cent to trade at N1.77, Omatek slipped by 6.84 per cent to N1.09, Eunisell depreciated by 5.88 per cent to N80.00, and Eterna dropped 5.63 per cent to close at N28.50.
Yesterday, traders transacted 1.5 billion units worth N21.8 billion in 25,667 deals compared with the 839.8 million units sold for N32.8 billion in 23,211 deals in the preceding session, showing a surge in the trading volume by 76.61 per cent, an uptick in the number of deals by 10.58 per cent, and a shrink in the trading value by 33.54 per cent.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Three stocks stretched the bearish run of the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.21 per cent on Friday, December 19, with the market capitalisation giving up N26.01 billion to close at N2.121 billion compared with the N2.147 trillion it ended a day earlier, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) dropping 43.47 points to 3,546.41 points from 3,589.88 points.
The trio of FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, and NASD Plc overpowered the gains printed by four other securities.
FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc lost N6.00 to sell at N54.00 per unit versus N60.00 per unit, NASD Plc shrank by N3.50 to N58.50 per share from N55.00 per share, and CSCS Plc depleted by N2.91 to N33.87 per unit from N36.78 per unit.
On the flip side, Air Liquide Plc gained N1.01 to close at N13.00 per share versus N11.99 per share, Golden Capital Plc appreciated by 70 Kobo to N7.68 per unit from N6.98 per unit, Geo-Fluids Plc added 39 Kobo to sell at N5.50 per share versus N5.11 per share, and IPWA Plc rose by 8 Kobo to 85 Kobo per unit from 77 Kobo per unit.
During the trading day, market participants traded 1.9 million securities versus the previous day’s 30.5 million securities showing a decline of 49.3 per cent. The value of trades went down by 64.3 per cent to N80.3 million from N225.1 million, but the number of deals jumped by 32.1 per cent to 37 deals from 28 deals.
Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit) Plc finished the session as the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units valued at N16.4 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 178.9 million units transacted for N9.5 billion, and MRS Oil Plc with 36.1 million units traded for N4.9 billion.
The most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis was still InfraCredit Plc with 5.8 billion units worth N16.4 billion, trailed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 1.2 billion units sold for N420.7 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with 536.9 million units traded for N524.9 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
It was not a good day for the Nigerian Naira at the two major foreign exchange (FX) market on Friday as it suffered a heavy loss against the United States Dollar at the close of transactions.
In the black market segment, the Naira weakened against its American counterpart yesterday by N10 to quote at N1,485/$1, in contrast to the N1,475/$1 it was traded a day earlier, and at the GTBank forex counter, it depreciated by N2 to settle at N1,467/$1 versus Thursday’s closing price of N1,465/$1.
In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) window, which is also the official market, the nation’s legal tender crashed against the greenback by N6.65 or 0.46 per cent to close at N1,464.49/$1 compared with the preceding session’s rate of N1,457.84/$1.
In the same vein, the local currency tumbled against the Euro in the spot market by N2.25 to sell for N1,714.63/€1 compared with the previous day’s N1,712.38/€1, but appreciated against the Pound Sterling by 73 Kobo to finish at N1,957.30/£1 compared with the N1,958.03/£1 it was traded in the preceding session.
The market continues to face seasonal pressure even as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is still conducting FX intervention sales, which have significantly reduced but not remove pressure from the Naira. Also, there seems to be reduced supply from exporters, foreign portfolio investors and non-bank corporate inflows.
President Bola Tinubu on Friday presented the government’s N58.47 trillion budget plan aimed at consolidating economic reforms and boosting growth.
The budget is based on a projected crude oil price of $64.85 a barrel and includes a target oil output of 1.84 million barrels a day. It also projects an exchange rate of N1,400 to the Dollar.
President Tinubu said inflation had plunged to an annual rate of 14.45 per cent in November from 24.23 per cent in March, while foreign reserves had surged to a seven-year high of $47 billion.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was dominated by the bulls but it continues to face increased pressure after million in liquidations in previous session over accelerating declines, with Dogecoin (DOGE) recovering 4.2 per cent to trade at $0.1309.
Further, Ripple (XRP) appreciated by 3.9 per cent to $1.90, Cardano (ADA) rose by 3.5 per cent to $0.3728, Solana (SOL) jumped by 3.4 per cent to $126.23, Ethereum (ETH) climbed by 2.9 per cent to $2,982.42, Binance Coin (BNB) gained 2.0 per cent to sell for $853.06, Bitcoin (BTC) improved by 1.7 per cent to $88,281.21, and Litecoin (LTC) soared by 1.2 per cent to $76.50, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.
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