Economy
Nigerian Stocks Stumble by 0.11% After Early Gains Disappear
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) recorded its first loss in the month of August 2017 at the close of trading session on Thursday.
Heavy losses recorded by oil and gas stocks led by Total Nigeria and Forte Oil dragged the market south by 0.11 percent.
At the resumption of trading activities on the floor of the NSE on Thursday, the market was looking like it would close in the green zone, but at the warp of transactions, it settled in the red territory, bringing an end to the seven-day winning streak.
Business Post reports that the All-Share Index (ASI) depreciated by 41.17 points to settle at 38,102.85 points, and consequently trimmed the year-to-date gain to 41.78 percent.
Also, the market capitalisation flattened by N14.2 billion to finish at N13.1 trillion, while the market breadth closed negative with 27 losers and 20 gainers.
The losers’ chart was led by Total, shedding N11 to close at N249 per share, while Forte Oil followed with N5.78k loss to end at N53.76k per share.
Also, Dangote Sugar depreciated by 69k to settle at N13.56k per share, NASCON fell by 66k to end at N12.57k per share, and Zenith Bank weakened by 50k to close at N24 per share.
On the flip side, Nestle maintained its strong performance at the market with N16.1k added to share price to settle at N1216.1k per share.
Guinness Nigeria rose by N3.50k to close at N91 per share, while Unilever advanced by N2.5k to finish at N43.5k per share.
Furthermore, Stanbic IBTC progressed by N1.50k to finish at N40 per share, and Conoil appreciated by N1.44k to end at N34.30k per share.
At the close of trading activities on Thursday, Access Bank emerged the most active stock with 70 million shares transacted at N712.4 million.
It was followed by Zenith Bank, which sold 58.8 million shares for N1.4 billion, and FCMB, which exchanged 47.2 million shares valued at N57.3 million.
In addition, Diamond Bank traded 33.2 million shares worth N43.2 million, while GTBank transacted 26.8 million at N1.1 billion.
However, the total volume of shares traded on the floor of the NSE today closed higher, while the value finished lower.
At the end of transactions today, investors exchanged 362.7 million shares in 4,055 deals worth N5.6 billion, in contrast to 328.7 million shares traded in 4,983 deals yesterday valued at N6.1 billion.
Despite Thursday’s loss, investors are optimistic that the market will bounce back tomorrow, the last trading day for the week.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is seeking a reduction in import duty exemptions, which rose to N34 trillion, limiting its ability to increase its revenue generation threshold.
The Comptroller-General of the Customs Service, Mr Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed that the value of import duty exemption certificate approvals increased to that level in 2025, describing the policy as one of the major factors restricting its revenue generation.
At an investigative session of the Senate Committee on Finance with revenue-generating agencies in Abuja on Monday, Mr Adeniyi explained that government fiscal policies have continued to impact the revenue-generating capacity of the Customs Service, both positively and negatively.
“The NCS would have generated significantly higher revenue over the years if not for government-approved import duty waivers and other external factors affecting collections,” he said.
He added that the Import Duty Exemption Certificate scheme, introduced in March 2020, accounted for about N34 trillion in approvals in 2025, with nearly 60 per cent covering duty-free importation of military hardware due to Nigeria’s prevailing security challenges.
Other government-backed duty waivers, he noted, covered the importation of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), electric and hybrid vehicles, healthcare equipment and medical supplies, industrial machinery and manufacturing inputs, as well as food import intervention programmes.
While acknowledging the impact of the waivers on Customs revenue, Mr Adeniyi argued that fiscal policy should not be assessed solely on the basis of revenue generation but also on its broader economic and social objectives.
He, however, urged the federal government to establish stronger monitoring mechanisms to ensure beneficiaries of duty waivers deliver the intended economic outcomes, including lower consumer prices, increased local production and improved healthcare access.
The committee also expressed displeasure over the absence of several heads of government agencies invited to the hearing, including the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Industrial Training Fund (ITF), and the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Jabi.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Mr Sani Musa, warned that the affected chief executives must appear at the committee’s next sitting or face severe sanctions under the Senate’s rules.
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By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange rose by 0.40 per cent on Monday, July 13, buoyed by buying interest in 11 Plc, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc and UBN Property Plc, which offset the profit-taking in Food Concepts Plc, the parent company of Chicken Republic.
11 Plc gained N20.69 to end at N227.64 per share compared with last Friday’s price of N206.95 per share, CSCS Plc grew by N1.83 to N91.48 per unit from N89.65 per unit, and UBN Property Plc added 1 Kobo to sell at N1.81 per share versus N1.80 per share.
On the flip side, Food Concepts Plc depreciated by 24 Kobo to close at N2.45 per unit, in contrast to the preceding session’s N2.69 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation increased by N9.2 billion to N2.587 trillion from N2.578 trillion, and the NASD Security Index (NSI) improved by 15.33 points to 4,311.67 points from 4,296.34 points.
Yesterday, the volume of securities traded by investors surged by 615.9 per cent to 9.1 million units from the previous 1.3 million units, and the value of securities rose by 997.1 per cent to N320.4 million from the preceding session’s N29.2 million, while the number of deals decreased by 12.5 per cent to 28 deals from last Friday’s 32 deals.
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 valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units worth N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 73.9 million units exchanged for N5.2 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 sold for 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 transacted for N415.7 million.
