Economy
Nigerian Stocks Investors Lose N68bn on April Fool’s Day
By Dipo Olowookere
The first trading session in the month of April 2021 ended on a bearish note as the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) lost 0.33 per cent on Thursday.
The market depreciated on April Fool’s Day despite the good results released by Access Bank. The lender had increased its dividend payout to 55 kobo from 40 kobo paid in the previous year.
However, this did not sway the market as investors continued with their profit-taking in preparation for the Easter holidays.
At the close of transactions, the All-Share Index (ASI) dropped below the 39,000 region after it lost 128.39 points to close at 38,916.74 points versus the previous day’s 39,045.13 points.
In the same vein, the market capitalisation depreciated by N68 billion to finish at N20.361 trillion in contrast to the previous session’s N20.429 trillion.
Business Post observed that sell-offs in the banking space was majorly responsible for the loss incurred by the market yesterday as its index dropped 3.62 per cent, with GTBank, Stanbic IBTC and Zenith Bank as the chief culprits.
The industrial goods sector was depressed on Thursday by 0.10 per cent, no thanks to Lafarge Africa, which again came under selling pressure.
The two counters suppressed the gains recorded by the consumer goods sector, which rose by 1.28 per cent, the energy sector, which gained 0.23 per cent, and the insurance sector, which appreciated by 0.19 per cent.
During the session, the trading volume reduced by 31.04 per cent to 239.4 million units from 347.2 million just as the trading value went down by 17.40 per cent to N2.3 billion from N2.8 billion, while the number of deals rose by 11.53 per cent to 4,450 deals from 3,990 deals.
There was significant interest in the shares of UAC Nigeria at the market yesterday and this made the company close as the most active with the sale of 37.4 million units valued at N370.0 million.
Transcorp traded 25.9 million shares for N20.9 million, Fidelity Bank exchanged 12.6 million stocks for N31.5 million, Flour Mills transacted 10.4 million equities worth N300.4 million, while GTBank sold 9.7 million shares valued at N289.6 million.
On the price movement chart, FTN Cocoa closed as the worst-performing stock as a result of the 8.70 per cent price depreciation it suffered, closing at 42 kobo.
NEM Insurance shed 7.39 per cent to finish at N2.13, Unity Bank lost 6.67 per cent to trade at 70 kobo, Regency Alliance Insurance went down by 3.33 per cent to 29 kobo, while Livestock Feeds fell by 2.60 per cent to close at N1.87.
UAC Nigeria and Royal Exchange were the best-performing stocks on Thursday as they appreciated by 10.00 per cent each to close at N9.90 and 33 kobo respectively.
Japaul gained 9.76 per cent to end at 45 kobo, Cutix appreciated by 9.31 per cent to sell for N2.23, while Linkage Assurance grew by 9.09 per cent to 72 kobo.
The market will close for today and Monday for the Easter celebration. The federal government declared the two days as public holidays.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Four price decliners further weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 0.46 per cent on Thursday, July 2.
FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc went down by N5.55 to N146.46 per unit from N152.01 per unit, Nitrox Industrial Gases Plc fell by N1.10 to N20.30 per share from N21.40 per share, UBN Property Plc lost 11 Kobo to sell at N1.99 per unit versus the previous day’s N2.10 per unit, and Mass Telecoms Innovation Plc depreciated by 4 Kobo to 32 Kobo per share from 36 Kobo per share.
Consequently, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) dropped 19.74 points to close at 4,248.46 points compared with Wednesday’s closing value of 4,268.20 points, while the market capitalisation decreased by N11.85 billion to N2.549 trillion from N2.561 trillion.
Yesterday, the volume of transactions went up by 92.9 per cent to 440,653 units from 229,238 units, and the number of deals rose by 77.8 per cent to 32 deals from 18 deals, while the value of trades contracted by 51.4 per cent to N10.5 million from N21.5 million.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units traded for N8.4 billion, trailed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units valued at N6.5 billion, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc with 68.9 million units exchanged for N4.8 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the session 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 transacted for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units sold for N415.7 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
The selling pressure on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited persisted on Thursday, causing a further decline of 0.61 per cent.
Data from Customs Street showed that the insurance counter lost 2.46 per cent, the banking space declined by 2.15 per cent, the industrial goods sector crumbled by 1.00 per cent, the energy index fell by 0.23 per cent, and the consumer goods segment crashed by 0.08 per cent.
As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) retreated by 1,368.10 points to 224,321.97 points from 225,690.07 points, and the market capitalisation moderated by N878 billion to N143.947 trillion from N144.825 trillion.
Trading data indicated investors bought and sold 855.4 million shares for N28.4 billion in 51,609 deals versus the 488.1 million shares worth N14.0 billion traded in 46,929 deals on Wednesday, showing a spike in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 75.25 per cent, 102.86 per cent, and 9.97 per cent, respectively.
The busiest stock for the session was Sterling Holdings, with a turnover of 459.6 million units worth N3.7 billion, Zenith Bank exchanged 41.2 million units for N4.2 billion, Universal Insurance sold 30.2 million units valued at N25.2 million, Access Holdings traded 29.7 million units worth N654.9 million, and FCMB transacted 28.2 million units valued at N271.4 million.
Yesterday, 13 equities gained weight, while 34 equities shed weight, indicating a negative market breadth index and weak investor sentiment.
Guinea Insurance lost 10.00 per cent to trade at 90 Kobo, International Energy Insurance slipped by 9.84 per cent to N5.22, The Initiates dropped 9.79 per cent to close at N23.50, Tantalizers declined by 9.52 per cent to N3.61, and NEM Insurance crashed by 9.25 per cent to N28.12.
On the flip side, Austin Laz gained 10.00 per cent to close at N3.63, Learn Africa also improved by 10.00 per cent to N9.90, DAAR Communications appreciated by 9.49 per cent to N1.50, UPDC soared by 9.09 per cent to N3.60, and Caverton flew higher by 8.51 per cent to N5.10.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira continued to gain ground against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX), as it further chalked up N2.26 or 0.16 per cent to sell for N1,370.15/$1 on Thursday, July 2, in contrast to Wednesday’s rate of N1,372.41/$1.
However, this was not the case for the domestic currency against the Pound Sterling at the same market window, the official market. It lost N10.44 to close at N1,832.17/£1 versus the previous day’s N1,821.73/£1, and fell against the Euro by N2.91 to trade at N1,568.28/€1 compared with the N1,565.37/€1 it was traded at midweek.
But at the black market, the Nigerian Naira gained N5 against the US Dollar yesterday to quote at N1,390/$1 versus the preceding session’s N1,395/$1, and at the GTBank FX counter, it appreciated by N7 to settle at N1,382/$1 versus N1,389/$1.
There are expectations that the Naira will remain within range as pressure from people taking half-year profits has tapered down while continued stronger policy signals from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) back the market.
Data from the apex bank showed that interbank FX turnover declined to $85.517 million across 94 deals closed by financial institutions trading on behalf of their clients from $90.303 million the previous day.
The last two trading sessions have seen a sharp decline in interbank FX turnover, down from an intra-week high of $269.898 million, according to data obtained from the CBN.
Despite a sharp slowdown in CBN FX intervention, the broader expectation remains that the Naira will trade within a relatively stable range through the remainder of 2026.
As for the cryptocurrency market, a squeeze on bearish traders pushed Bitcoin (BTC) toward $62,000, capping the market’s first genuinely strong week since mid June. It improved its value by 1.8 per cent to $61,644.94.
Data from Coinglass showed that traders betting against crypto lost $281 million to liquidations over the past 24 hours, against $159 million in longs, out of $440 million in total forced closures across 95,690 traders.
Cardano (ADA) rose by 6.6 per cent to $0.1651, Ethereum (ETH) soared by 5.5 per cent to $1,716.65, Ripple (XRP) appreciated by 4.2 per cent to $1.10, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 3.3 per cent to $0.0751, Solana (SOL) also chalked up 3.3 per cent to sell at $80.95, Binance Coin (BNB) added 2.0 per cent to close at $562.22, and TRON (TRX) jumped by 1.0 per cent to $0.3186, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
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