Economy
Nigerian Stocks Lose N225b to Begin Week Bearish
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The first trading day of the week on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) kicked off on Wednesday on a very negative note with a total of N225 billion lost by investors at the close of business.
The market had resumed for transactions today from the Christmas break observed on Monday and Tuesday, but the huge profit-taking by investors plunged the benchmark index into the red zone by 1.64 percent.
Business Post reports that the All-Share Index (ASI) went down by 632.57 points to settle at 37,889.57 points, while the market capitalisation decreased by N225 billion.
Other sector indices finished lower today except the NSEOILGAS, which increased by 0.48 percent to finish at 317.44 points.
The NSE30 declined by 1.40 percent today to close at 1,726.96 points; the NSE50 went down by 1.47 percent to finish at 1,930.91 points; the NSEBNK fell by 0.31 percent to end at 472.25 points; and the NSE Consumer Goods depreciated by 1.17 percent to wrap the day at 956.60 points.
Observers and analysts informed Business Post that this trend may likely continue throughout the three-day trading sessions for this week as investors would like to quickly sell off to take profit as the year 2017 wraps up.
Our correspondent reports that the year-to-date return deflated to 40.99 percent after the midweek trade. Similarly, the market breadth closed negative after the stock market finished with 22 price losers and 14 gainers.
The losers’ chart was led by Dangote Cement, which fell by N9.50k to close at N230.50k per share, and Nigerian Breweries, which depreciated by N5.96k to finish at N134.4k per share.
Okomu Oil slumped by N3.56k to end at N67.69k per share, Presco lost N3.50k to settle at N68.50k per share, while PZ Cussons went down by 76k to close at N20.62k per share.
On the flip side, Mobil topped the gainers’ log on Wednesday after increasing by N8.31k to close at N178.31k per share.
It was followed by Cadbury, which appreciated by N1.42k to finish at N15.75k per share, and Dangote Sugar, which grew by 51k to end at N20.15k per share.
Eterna increased by 12k to finish at N4.35k per share, while Fidelity Bank advanced by 11k to settle at N2.49k per share.
At the close of business on Wednesday, the volume of equities transacted went up by 108.31 percent from 204.485 million to 425.960 million, while the total value of shares exchanged rose by 38.63 percent from N1.5 billion to N2.1 billion.
The Financial Services sector led the activity chart today with 313.6 million shares exchanged for N2.3 billion, while the Conglomerates industry followed with 107.5 million shares traded for N160 million.
Transcorp was the busiest stock on Wednesday, exchanging a total of 107 million units of shares worth N154.8 million.
It was followed by Fidelity Bank, which sold 94 million shares valued at N220.8 million, and Skye Bank, which transacted 51.7 million shares for N25.8 million.
AIICO traded 40 million shares at N20.9 million, while FBN Holdings executed 37.9 million shares worth N340.9 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Food Concepts Plc neutralized the gains recorded by three securities, returning the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange into the negative territory with a 0.27 per cent loss on Thursday, December 4.
Yesterday, the share price of the parent company of Chicken Republic and PieXpress declined by 34 Kobo to sell at N3.15 per unit compared with the previous day’s N3.49 per unit.
This shrank the market capitalisation of the OTC bourse by N5.72 billion to N2.136 billion from N2.142 trillion and weakened the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 9.57 points to 3,571.53 points from 3,581.10 points.
Business Post reports that Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc went down by 50 Kobo to N38.50 per share from N38.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc gained 29 Kobo to sell at N55.79 per unit versus N55.50 per unit, and Geo-Fluids Plc added 5 Kobo to close at N4.60 per share compared with Wednesday’s closing price of N4.55 per share.
Trading data indicated that the volume of securities recorded at the session surged by 6,885.3 per cent to 4.3 million units from the 61,570 units posted a day earlier, the value of securities increased by 10,301.7 per cent to N947.2 million from N3.3 million, and the number of deals went up by 146.7 per cent to 37 deals from the 15 deals achieved in the previous trading session.
At the close of business, Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit) Plc was the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with the sale of 5.8 billion units for N16.4 billion, trailed by Okitipupa Plc with 170.4 million units worth N8.0 billion, and Air Liquide Plc with 507.5 million units valued at N4.2 billion.
InfraCredit Plc also finished the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units transacted for N16.4 billion, followed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 1.2 billion units sold for N420.2 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with 536.9 million units traded for N524.9 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
The upward trend witnessed at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited in recent sessions continued on Thursday as it further improved by 0.10 per cent.
This was despite investor sentiment turning bearish after the local equity market ended with 23 price gainers and 28 price gainers, indicating a negative market breadth index.
UAC Nigeria gained 10.00 per cent to finish at N88.00, Morison Industries appreciated by 9.94 per cent to N3.54, Ecobank rose by 8.53 per cent to N36.90, and Coronation Insurance grew by 8.47 per cent to N2.56.
On the flip side, Ellah Lakes depreciated by 10.00 per cent to N13.14, Eunisell Nigeria also shed 10.00 per cent to finish at N72.90, Transcorp Hotels slipped by 9.95 per cent to N157.50, Omatek shrank by 9.23 per cent to N1.18, and Guinea Insurance dipped by 8.46 per cent to N1.19.
Yesterday, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 152.28 points to 145,476.15 points from 145,323.87 points and the market capitalisation chalked up N97 billion to finish at N92.726 trillion compared with the previous day’s N92.629 trillion.
Customs Street was bubbling with activities on Thursday, though the trading volume and value slightly went down, according to data.
A total of 1.9 billion stocks worth N19.2 billion exchanged hands in 23,369 deals during the session versus the N2.3 billion valued at N21.0 billion traded in 21,513 deals a day earlier.
This showed that the number of deals increased by 8.63 per cent, the volume of transactions depleted by 17.39 per cent, and the value of trades decreased by 8.57 per cent.
For another trading day, eTranzact led the activity chart with 1.6 billion units sold for N6.4 billion, Fidelity Bank traded 31.0 million units worth N589.3 million, GTCO exchanged 28.3 million units valued at N2.5 billion, Zenith Bank transacted 27.1 million units for N1.6 billion, and Ecobank traded 21.9 million units worth N744.3 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira marginally depreciated against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Thursday, December 4 amid renewed forex pressure associated with December.
At the official market yesterday, the Nigerian currency lost 0.01 per cent or 18 Kobo against the Dollar to close at N1,447.83/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,447.65/$1.
It was not a different scenario with the local currency in the same market segment against the Pound Sterling as it further shed N15.43 to sell for N1,930.97/£1 versus Wednesday’s closing price of N1,925.08/£1 and declined against the Euro by 20 Kobo to finish at N1,688.74/€1 compared with the preceding session’s N1,688.54/€1.
Similarly, the Nigerian Naira lost N5 against the greenback in the black market to quote at N1,465/$1 compared with the previous day’s value of N1,460/$1 but closed flat against the Dollar at the GTBank FX counter at N1,453/$1.
Fluctuations in trading range is expected to continue during the festive season as traders expect the Nigerian currency to be stable, supported by intervention s by to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)in the face of steady dollar demand.
Support is also expected in coming weeks as seasonal activities, particularly the stylised “Detty December” festivities, will see inflows that will give the Naira a boost after it depreciated mildly last month, according to a new report.
“As the festive Detty December season intensifies, inbound travel, tourism spending, and diaspora inflows are expected to provide moderate support for FX liquidity,” analysts at the research unit of FMDA said in its latest monthly report for November.
Traders cited by Reuters expect that the Naira will trade within a band of N1,443-N1,450 next week, buoyed by improved FX interventions by the apex bank.
Meanwhile, the crypto market was down as the US Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation gauge, core PCE, likely rose in September—moving in the wrong direction. However, volatility indices show no signs of major turbulence.
If the actual figure matches estimates, it would mark 55 straight months of inflation above the US central bank’s 2 per cent target. The sticky inflation would strengthen the hawkish policymakers, who are in favour of slower rate cuts.
Ripple (XRP) depreciated by 4.5 per cent to $2.08, Solana (SOL) went down by 3.8 per cent to $138.11, Litecoin (LTC) shrank by 3.1 per cent to $83.23, Dogecoin (DOGE) slid by 2.5 per cent to $0.1463, Cardano (ADA) declined by 2.1 per cent to $0.4368, Bitcoin (BTC) fell by 0.9 per cent to $91,975.45, Binance Coin (BNB) crumbled by 0.9 per cent to $899.41, and Ethereum (ETH) dropped by 0.7 per cent to $3,156.44, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 apiece.
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