Economy
NSE: Investors Lose N150b as Buhari Declares 2019 Re-election Bid
By Dipo Olowookere
Investors trading in Nigerian stocks lost N149.7 billion on Monday as President Muhammadu Buhari declared his intention to seek re-election in the 2019 presidential election.
Mr Buhari had left many guessing if he would eventually throw his hat into the ring, but today, he put that into rest, announcing that he would want to remain in Aso Rock till 2023, when he would be expected to leave if he is finally elected by Nigerians in March 2019.
However, investors in the Nigerian capital market received this news with mixed feelings and by the time market activities were brought to an end on Monday, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) depreciated by 1.01 percent, shrinking the year-to-date returns to 5.72 percent.
The All-Share Index (ASI) went down by 411.96 points to settle at 40,429.18 points, while the market capitalisation reduced by N149.7 billion to close at N14.604 trillion.
Business Post reports that the market fell on Monday mainly as a result of price depreciation recorded by stocks in the banking, industrial goods and consumer goods sectors, which investors offloaded from their portfolios.
Today, Lafarge Africa Plc released its 2017 earnings, which fell short of what investors were expecting, especially with a N35 billion loss the cement maker declared.
In addition, investors were not happy with the cash dividend of N1.50k proposed by the board of Lafarge and they consequently punished the stock by offloading it.
At the end of the day, the market recorded 31 price losers and 17 price gainers, leaving the market breadth to close negative.
Unilever was the biggest price loser at the stock market today, going down by N4.80k to settle at N55 per share.
It was followed by Lafarge, which lost N3.20k of its share value to finish at N41 per share, and Dangote Cement, which fell by N2.90k to close at N252 per share.
Guinness Nigeria went down by N1 to end at N103 per share, while Dangote Flour decreased by 65k to settle at N13.15k per share.
On the flip side, GlaxoSmithKline emerged the biggest price gainer, going up by N1 to close at N30 per share.
It was trailed by CCNN, which appreciated by 20k to settle at N18 per share, and Champion Breweries, which also improved by 20k to close at N2.48k per share.
Axa Mansard grew by 12k to end at N2.52k per share, while Fidson also increased by 12k to settle at N5.80k per share.
Business Post’s Dipo Olowookere reports that the volume transactions recorded today decreased by 42.82 percent, while the value went down by 15.37 percent.
A total of 287 million shares were sold at the market on Monday in 4,285 deals worth N4.9 billion in contrast to the 502 million equities exchanged last Friday in 6,108 deals valued at N5.9 billion.
Trading was dominated by banking stocks with FBN Holdings emerging investors’ toast after selling 30 million units worth N359 million.
It was followed by Skye Bank, which traded 23 million shares valued at N15 million, and FCMB, which exchanged 23 million shares for N53.9 million.
Zenith Bank traded 22.5 million units valued at N606.9 million, while Nigerian Breweries sold 20.6 million worth N2.6 billion.
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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