Economy
Nigerian Stocks Give up Early Gains to Finish 0.39% Lower
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) on Friday returned to the negative territory a day after halting its six-day consecutive bearish runs.
The stock market was trading green today with huge buying interest and as at 12 noon, it was 0.57 percent higher.
However, price depreciation suffered by some large cap stocks dragged the equity market back to the red zone.
By the time market activities were brought to an end by 2:30pm, the Lagos exchange went down by 0.39 percent with the year-to-date gain shrinking to 8.44 percent.
However, the market breadth still finished positive like yesterday, with a total of 33 stocks appreciating in price, while 24 equities suffered different depreciations.
Nestle Nigeria was the day’s heaviest price loser, decreasing by N33 to close at N1317 per share, while Dangote Cement fell by N9.90k to end at N255 per share.
Presco depreciated by N3.30k to finish at N68.70k per share, Nigerian Breweries lost N1.40k to settle at N126.50k per share, and PZ Cussons dropped 95k of its share value to close at N22.5k per share.
On the flip side, it was a good day for Lafarge as its stock gained N2.50k on Friday to settle at N50 per share.
GTBank rose by N1.95k to finish at N46.90k per share, while Zenith Bank grew by N1.40k to end at N30.20k per share.
Cadbury Nigeria increased by N1.30k to finish at N14.55k per share, while GlaxoSmithKline garnered N1.20k to close at N25.50k per share.
Looking at the market indices today, the All-Share Index (ASI) lost 161.69 points to settle at 41,472.10 points, while the market capitalisation went down by N58.4 billion to finish at N14.982 trillion.
However, the volume of shares transacted by investors today appreciated, while the value of transactions declined.
Business Post reports that at the close of market, investors exchanged a total of 560 million shares worth N6.8 billion in 4,605 deals in contrast to the 542.4 million equities traded yesterday in 5,039 deals valued at N7.4 billion.
A further breakdown showed that AIICO got the most attention of investors on Friday, selling 139.3 million units worth N94.8 million.
It was followed by Access Bank, which traded 86.2 million shares valued at N970.9 million and Fidelity Bank, which transacted 39 million equities for N105.4 million.
FBN Holdings exchanged 37 million shares worth N452.3 million, while GTBank sold 34.3 million equities for N1.6 billion.
It is certain that the stock market is closing week-on-week negative again like it had done in the past few weeks.
The positive 2017 earnings of firms listed on the stock market have failed to trigger huge buying interests as expected.
However, there are hopes that next week, the market will bounce back as more companies release their financial figures for 2017.
Economy
BNB Price Reflects Changing Dynamics in the Digital Asset Market
Economy
NASD Unlisted Security Index Crosses 4,000-point Benchmark Again
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange achieved a milestone on Friday, April 24, 2026, after five securities on the platform helped with a 1.85 per cent growth.
Data showed that the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) again crossed the 4,000-point benchmark yesterday.
The index chalked up 73.64 points during the trading day to close at 4,052.59 points compared with the preceding session’s 3,978.95 points, while the market capitalisation added N5.38 billion to finish at N2.424 trillion versus Thursday’s closing value of N2.380 trillion.
The price gainers were led by Okitipupa Plc, which grew by N25.00 to sell at N305.00 per share compared with the previous price of N280.00 per share. Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc gained N6.92 to close at N76.26 per unit versus N69.34 per unit, Afriland Properties Plc appreciated by N1.00 to N17.00 per share from N18.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc improved by 55 Kobo to N99.55 per unit from N99.00 per unit, and Food Concepts Plc increased by 5 Kobo to N2.70 per share from N2.65 per share.
However, there was a price loser, MRS Oil, which dipped by N21.75 to N195.75 per unit from N217.50 per unit.
During the final session of the week, the value of securities jumped 75.2 per cent to N41.3 million from N23.6 million units, and the number of deals expanded by 62.9 per cent to 44 deals from 27 deals, while the volume of securities declined marginally by 0.9 per cent to 447,403 units from 451,522 units.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc was the most traded stock by volume (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, trailed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units traded for N1.2 billion.
GNI was also the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 59.6 million units transacted for N4.0 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.8 million units exchanged for N1.9 billion.
Economy
Naira Slips to N1,358/$1 as FX Reserves, Policy Uncertainty Concerns
By Adedapo Adesanya
It was not a good day for the Nigerian Naira in the currency market on Friday, April 24, as its value depreciated against the major foreign currencies at the close of transactions.
In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX), it lost N4.53 or 0.33 per cent against the United States Dollar yesterday to trade at N1,358.44/$1, in contrast to the N1,353.91/$1 it was exchanged on Thursday.
Equally, the domestic currency slipped against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N8.14 to close at N1,834.02/£1, compared with the previous rate of N1,825.88/£1 and dropped N8.01 against the Euro to sell at N1,590.73/€1 versus N1,582.72/€1.
Also, the Naira depreciated against the US Dollar at the GTBank FX desk on Friday by N4 to quote at N1,370/$1 compared with the previous session’s N1,366/$1, and at the parallel market, it depleted by N5 to settle at N1,380/$1 versus the preceding day’s N1,375/$1.
Data published by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) indicated that NFEM interbank turnover surged to N43.562 million across 68 deals, up from N28.117 million the previous day.
Despite the CBN’s reassurance that the recent drop in external reserves is not worrisome, the market remains unsettled by persistent concerns over liquidity constraints, policy transparency, and weakening confidence in Nigeria’s FX market as gross reserves continue to decline to $48.4 billion.
The outlook for the Dollar appears supported by broader macro risks, including elevated oil prices tied to the tanker traffic disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and a continued US-Iran standoff over ceasefire negotiations.
A look at the digital currency market showed that investors are sitting on the edge as the US Dollar rebounded amid geopolitical and inflation risks despite continued inflows into US spot bitcoin Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).
Solana (SOL) rose by 1.2 per cent to sell $86.45, Cardano (ADA) appreciated by 1.1 per cent to $0.2517, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 0.9 per cent to $0.0989, Ripple (XRP) improved by 0.3 per cent to $1.43, Ethereum (ETH) soared by 0.2 per cent to $2,316.83, and Binance Coin (BNB) chalked up 0.1 per cent to sell for $637.44.
However, TRON (TRX) depreciated by 1.3 per cent to $0.3235, and Bitcoin (BTC) lost 0.2 per cent to close at $77,562.27, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.
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