Economy
NSE Index Drops 0.16% as Investors Mop up Banking Stocks at Cheap Prices
By Dipo Olowookere
The All-Share Index (ASI) of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) depreciated on Tuesday by 0.16 percent or 42.26 points to finish at 27,047.58 points despite the market breadth finish strong by 1.5x.
This market indicator, which measures investors sentiment, showed that there were 18 price gainers at the close of business yesterday against 12 price losers.
Business Post observed that the bearish closure of the stock market on Tuesday was caused selloffs witnessed again in the consumer goods space as well as in the industrial sector. While the consumer goods index fell by 2.22 percent, the industrial arm declined by 1.61 percent.
Furthermore, the energy sector depreciated by 0.19 percent, while the insurance index went down by 0.49 percent. Only the banking index closed positive with 1.00 percent growth.
The poor performance of stocks in these sectors reduced the market capitalization on Tuesday by N20.6 billion, leaving it at N13.158 trillion at the end of the day’s transactions against N13.179 trillion it ended in the previous session.
For the second time this week, Nestle Nigeria topped the losers’ log after going down by N56 to finish at N1080 per unit, while CCNN dropped N1.15k to close at N16.25k per share.
Dangote Cement lost 70 kobo to end at N155 per share, Forte Oil depreciated by 50 kobo to leave its stock price at N14 each, while UAC Nigeria went down by 40 kobo to settle at N6.20k per unit.
On the gainers’ side, Dangote Flour appreciated by N1.25k to lead the table and close at N22.25k per share, while MTN Nigeria improved its stock value by 45 kobo to finish at N138.50k each, GTBank gained 35 kobo to rise to N26.85k per share, FBN Holding also appreciated by 35 kobo to close at N5 per unit, while Nigerian Breweries rose by 20 kobo to settle at N50.75k per share.
The level of activity was good yesterday as the volume of shares traded by investors increased by 25.38 percent, while the value of the trades went up by 13.23 percent.
A total of 364.2 million shares worth N4.9 billion exchanged hands on Tuesday in 4,629 deals compared with the 290.5 million equities valued at N4.3 billion transacted on Monday in 2,900 deals.
GTBank remained the most active stock during the trading day, accounting for 78.6 million units sold for N2.1 billion, while Courtville followed with 49.0 million units traded for N10.7 million.
Access Bank transacted 43.9 million equities worth N301.9 million, Zenith Bank traded 40.3 million shares valued at N732.9 million, while FBN Holdings exchanged 36.5 million shares for N179.9 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange weakened further by 1.75 per cent on Tuesday, August 18, triggered by losses recorded by the duo of Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc and Food Concepts Plc.
CSCS Plc, the Nigerian securities depository company, lost N8.48 to settle at N90.02 per share compared with the previous value of N98.50 per share, while Food Concepts Plc, the parent company of fast food franchise, Chicken Republic, dropped 15 Kobo to end at N2.35 per unit versus N2.50 per unit.
Consequently, the NASD Security Index (NSI) further declined by 77.26 points to 4,348.76 points from Monday’s 4,426.02 points, while the market capitalisation dipped by N46.37 billion to N2.610 trillion from N2.656 trillion.
During the session, the volume of securities bought and sold by investors slumped by 82.6 per cent to 113,728 units from the previous session’s 652,081 units, and the value of securities slid by 12.4 per cent to N9.4 million from the preceding day’s N10.7 million, while the number of deals increased by 47.6 per cent to 31 deals from 21 deals.
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, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 79.7 million units transacted for N5.8 billion.
GNI Plc was also the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, trailed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units worth N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units exchanged for N415.7 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The value of the Nigerian Naira further appreciated against the US Dollar by N6.22 or 0.46 per cent in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Tuesday, August 18, to N1,343.32/$1 from the previous rate of N1,349.54/$1.
This occurred amid steady growth in Nigeria’s external reserves, rising to $52.32 billion as of August 17, 2026, giving the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) enough arsenal to defend the local currency when the need arises in the FX market.
Also, the domestic currency improved its value against the Pound Sterling in the official market yesterday by N10.85 to close at N1,819.26/£1 compared with the previous day’s N1,830.11/£1, and gained N8.55 on the Euro to sell at N1,556.24/€1 versus Monday’s N1,564.79/€1.
In the same vein, the Naira appreciated against the Dollar in the black market during the trading session by N5 to quote at N1,390/$1, in contrast to the N1,395/$1 it was traded a day earlier, and strengthened at the GTBank forex desk by N7 to N1,357/$1 from N1,364/$1.
NAFEM interbank FX turnover declined as financial institutions’ activities moderated. Interbank FX turnover dropped by 16.6 per cent to $364.709 million from $437.529 million, with the number of deals down by 39.3 per cent to 108 deals from 178 deals.
As for the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin (BTC) traded at $64,120.36, as most other major cryptocurrencies closed in the green amid a global selloff in chip stocks.
An Asian semiconductor gauge dropped more than 3 per cent, following a 5 per cent slide in the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index on Tuesday, its worst session since late July, while investors await US Federal Reserve minutes and are widely expecting no rate change in September.
Solana (SOL) gained 1.4 per cent to sell at $76.66, Cardano (ADA) added 0.9 per cent to trade at $0.1748, Ethereum (ETH) grew by 0.6 per cent to $1,905.54, Ripple (XRP) appreciated by 0.4 per cent to sell at $0.9986, TRON (TRX) improved by 0.3 per cent to $0.3327, and Dogecoin (DOGE) soared by 0.2 per cent to $0.0698.
However, Binance Coin (BNB) depreciated by 0.4 per cent to $600.88, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited has recently struggled to regain its spark due to continued selling pressure from investors reducing their exposure to equities in favour of fixed-income investment instruments.
Yesterday, the stock market further shed 0.35 per cent on the back of profit-taking in the banking sector, which closed lower by 1.83 per cent. The consumer goods space lost 0.13 per cent, and the energy counter depreciated by 0.01 per cent, while the insurance index gained 0.04 per cent, with the industrial goods segment closing flat.
Business Post reports that the All-Share Index (ASI) decreased on Tuesday by 843.42 points to 241,611.23 points from 242,454.65 points, and the market capitalisation shrank by N545 billion to N155.973 trillion from N156.518 trillion.
Like the previous session, investor sentiment was weak after Customs Street ended with 22 price gainers and 37 price losers, indicating a negative market breadth index.
Red Star Express weakened by 10.00 per cent to N16.20, Trans-Nationwide Express crashed by 9.94 per cent to N2.81, Meyer depleted by 9.88 per cent to N15.05, Chellarams plunged by 9.77 per cent to N9.70, and Fortis Global Insurance moderated by 9.70 per cent to N2.14.
On the flip side, Haldane McCall surged by 9.97 per cent to N3.20, Veritas Kapital climbed by 7.09 per cent to N1.36, Tantalizers rose by 5.26 per cent to N4.00, RT Briscoe appreciated by 4.31 per cent to N10.90, and Regency Alliance grew by 3.66 per cent to 85 Kobo.
A look at the activity chart for the day showed the volume of transactions significantly retreated by 66.94 per cent as a result of the absence of big-ticket trades, and the number of deals dropped by 21.57 per cent, while the value of trades increased by 20.09 per cent.
Market participants traded 429.8 million stocks valued at N27.5 billion in 35,683 deals during the session compared with the 1.3 billion stocks worth N22.9 billion transacted in 45,494 deals on Monday.
Sterling Holdings led the activity chart with a turnover of 51.6 million units for N390.6 million. FCMB traded 50.0 million units worth N584.8 million, Chams sold 32.4 million units valued at N134.5 million, Veritas Kapital exchanged 180 million units for N24.3 million, and First Holdco transacted 17.0 million units worth N2.2 billion.
