Economy
Nigerian Stocks Extend 2019 Loss to 14.70% Tuesday
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), as at the close of business on Tuesday, October 8, 2019, has lost 14.70 percent of its value since the beginning of this year, Business Post is reporting.
The local equity market has been facing very difficult challenges since the start of 2019 and predictions that things would get better after the general elections never came to pass.
At today’s session, the market depreciated by 0.21 percent as President Muhammadu Buhari presented the 2020 budget to a joint session of the National Assembly.
Business Post reports that the decline posted by the local bourse today was mainly influenced by the poor performance put up by MTN Nigeria and 13 other equities.
The leading telco topped the losers’ chart after going down by N1.50 to close at N128.50 per unit, while Guinness Nigeria followed with a decline of 40 kobo to settle at N32.50 per share.
Dangote Sugar fell by 30 kobo to end at N10.20 per unit, Dangote Flour depreciated by 15 kobo to finish at N22.30 per share, while Champion Breweries went down by 11 kobo to trade at N1.04 per unit.
At the other side, Mobil Oil Nigeria led the 12 price gainers after adding N7.90 to its share value to finish at N147.90 per share, while NASCON trailed with a price gain of N1.35 to settle at N14.85 per unit.
Forte Oil improved its value by 90 kobo to close at N15.70 per share, GTBank went up by 15 kobo to end at N26.70 per share, while Africa Prudential rose by 13 kobo to settle at N4 per unit.
Despite the loss posted by the NSE on Tuesday, the level of activity improved significantly as the volume and value of transactions increased by 22.56 percent and 68.69 percent respectively.
A total of 185.9 million shares worth N2.5 billion were traded by investors today compared with the 151.7 million equities N1.5 billion transacted in the previous session.
Zenith Bank was the most active with a turnover of 60.9 million units of the bank’s stocks sold for N1.1 billion, while FCMB followed with 37.3 million equities traded for N59.7 million.
GTBank exchanged 27.9 million shares worth N744.4 million, FBN Holdings traded 6.6 million equities valued at N34.7 million, while UBA transacted 5.3 million shares for N31.6 million.
A look at the major market indicators showed that the All-Share Index (ASI) depreciated by 56.49 points to finish at 26,809.92 points, while the market capitalisation went down by N27.5 billion to settle at N13.051 trillion.
An analysis of the sectoral performance indicated that only the consumer goods index closed in the red territory on Tuesday with a 0.09 percent decline.
The energy sector rose by 1.04 percent, the insurance sector appreciated by 0.06 percent, while the banking sector gained 0.05 percent, with the industrial goods sector closing flat at the session.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has defended its decision to allow Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) to invest in the parent companies of their custodians, insisting that adequate safeguards are in place to protect contributors’ funds.
The director-general of the pension regulator, Ms Omolola Oloworaran, speaking on Tuesday during the Meet the Press Briefing at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, said the commission’s decision to relax the investment restriction followed a comprehensive risk assessment that found minimal conflict of interest.
She explained that under PenCom’s investment regulations, PFAs are only permitted to invest pension assets in carefully selected instruments that meet stringent criteria, including profitability, strong credit ratings and proven track records.
According to her, the commission regularly reviews its investment regulations, conducts routine examinations and spot checks on PFAs to ensure strict compliance with established risk management guidelines.
“PFAs cannot just go into the stock market and buy any kind of stock. There are strict guidelines. Companies must demonstrate profitability, have a proven track record and satisfy other criteria before pension funds can invest,” she said.
Ms Oloworaran noted that each PFA also operates under the oversight of a board, an investment committee and a risk management committee, providing additional layers of governance to safeguard contributors’ funds.
She said PenCom recently issued a circular allowing PFAs to invest in the parent companies of their custodians after determining that the potential conflict of interest was negligible.
The PenCom boss explained that the parent companies involved are largely Tier-1 banks, including First Bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA) and Zenith Bank, which she described as A-rated institutions with strong financial foundations.
She said the policy was intended to widen investment opportunities for pension funds without compromising safety.
Using Stanbic IBTC as an example, Ms Oloworaran explained that if its custodian is Zenith Bank, the previous restriction prevented the pension administrator from investing in Zenith Bank shares despite the bank’s strong performance.
“We reviewed the risks and any potential conflict of interest and found the risks to be very low. That is why we opened that investment window,” she said.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Analysts at Meristem Research have predicted that the inflation rate for June 2026 in Nigeria should marginally rise to 15.95 per cent on a year-on-year basis from the 15.93 per cent reported in May 2026.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) is expected to release inflation numbers for last month later today, Wednesday, July 15, 2026.
In its report sighted by Business Post, Meristem Research said it expects inflationary pressures to re-emerge across key economies in the near term, as the re-escalation of the US-Iran conflict has reignited upward pressure on global oil prices.
It disclosed that this marks a sharp reversal from most of June, when the ceasefire between the two countries helped drive oil prices lower, raising expectations of some relief on the inflation front.
With conflicts now flaring up again, oil prices are likely to increase again, and the anticipated easing in energy-driven inflation may not materialise as broadly as earlier envisaged.
“Nonetheless, some relief is likely from the food segment, where robust supply conditions across major producing regions and softening demand should continue to ease food price pressures,” it stated.
The team also explained that it projected a 15.95 per cent inflation rate because of the lingering effects of persistent food price pressures.
“However, we expect core inflation to moderate as the sharp reversal in energy prices begins to filter through to transportation, distribution, and other energy-related costs, easing underlying price pressures.
“On a month-on-month basis, the combined effect of lower petrol prices, a relatively stable Naira, and the gradual pass-through of reduced energy costs across the supply chain should exert further downward pressure on inflation.
“Based on our assessment, food inflation is expected to remain the key swing factor, as seasonal pre-harvest supply constraints are likely to offset some of the gains from lower logistics costs,” it said.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The duo of Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc and Afriland Properties Plc weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.61 per cent on Tuesday, July 14.
CSCS Plc saw its stock value drop N9.08 to close at N82.40 per share compared with the preceding session’s N91.48 per share, and Afriland Properties Plc slid by 17 Kobo to sell at N15.00 per unit versus N15.70 per unit.
The losses recorded by the two securities pulled back the market capitalisation by N41.64 billion to N2.546 trillion from N2.587 trillion, and cracked the NASD Security Index (NSI) by 69.36 points to 4,242.31 points from 4,311.67 points.
It was observed that the exchange witnessed two price advancers during the session, led by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, which gained N1.37 to end at N151.37 per share compared with the previous day’s N150.00 per share, and Food Concepts Plc chalked up 5 Kobo to settle at N2.50 per unit versus N2.45 per unit.
The volume of securities traded by market participants surged by 50.7 per cent to 13.7 million units from the previous 9.1 million units, while the value of securities went down by 79.7 per cent to N65.2 million from N320.4 million, and the number of deals crashed by 3.6 per cent to 27 deals from the previous session’s 28 deals.
At the close of transactions, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with the sale of 3.4 billion units for N8.4 billion, trailed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc, which exchanged 2.3 billion units valued at N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 73.9 million units transacted for N5.2 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the trading day as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth 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.
