Economy
NSE YtD Return Slips to -11% as Massive Selloffs Continue
By Dipo Olowookere
Friday’s session on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) ended in the negative territory as investors continue with the panic selling of their shares due to political uncertainty as well as worries in the emerging markets.
The local bourse closed 0.21 percent lower yesterday, dragging the Year-to-Date return to -11 percent at the close of transactions.
YtD return is the amount of profit generated by an investment since the beginning of the current calendar year, indicating that the stock market has lost 11 percent since the beginning of 2018. In 2017, the NSE appreciated by over 42 percent, making it one of the five most profitable in the world.
Since the local political scene became heated ahead of the 2019 general elections, investors have been selling off their stocks, hoping to return after the polls in February 2019, when things should have possibly been calm.
Business Post reports that the All-Share Index (ASI) depreciated by 72.31 points on Friday to settle at 34,037.91 points, while the market capitalisation decreased by N26 billion to finish at N12.427 trillion.
Yesterday, the Financial Services sector led the activity chart with 137.3 million shares exchanged for N1.6 billion, while the Consumer Goods space followed with 5.8 million equities transacted for N272 million.
A further breakdown showed that GTBank emerged the most traded stock at the market, selling 27.2 million units for N948.9 million.
It was followed by Zenith Bank, which traded 19.7 million equities worth N412 million, and Soverign Trust Insurance, which exchanged 12.7 million shares valued at N3 million.
Fidelity Bank traded 10.8 million shares for N18.6 million, while Skye Bank transacted 7.9 million equities worth N4.4 million.
At the end of the day, while the volume of shares moved by investors decreased by 5.20 percent from 164.5 million to 156 million, the value increased by 1.51 percent from N2.07 billion to N2.1 billion.
Business Post reports further that the market breadth ended negative on Friday with 14 price losers against 13 price gainers.
GlaxoSmithKline led the 13 price gainers yesterday after going up by N1.20k to finish at N14.30k per share.
Mobil Nigeria grew by N1 to close at N180 per share, while Dangote Sugar went up by 90 kobo to end at N16 per share.
Diamond Bank appreciated by 10 kobo to settle at N1.33k per share, while May and Baker increased by 9 kobo to close at N2.49k per share.
However, Dangote Cement suffered the biggest price loss at the close of market on Friday after going down by N1 to settle at N223 per share.
Union Bank lost 55 kobo to finish at N5.30k per share, while Lafarge went down by 15 kobo to close at N23 per share.
Zenith Bank fell by 10 kobo to end at N20.90k per share, while Oando also decreased by 10 kobo to finish at N5.25k per share.
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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