Economy
Portfolios of Stock Market Investors Swell by N87bn
By Dipo Olowookere
For the first time this week, investor sentiment turned bullish on Wednesday on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited helped by persistent buying pressure.
This increased the portfolios of stock market investors by 0.23 per cent or N87 billion to N38.885 trillion from the N38.798 trillion it closed on Tuesday.
It was observed that traders showed renewed confidence in the market, leading to the 159.71 points added to the All-Share Index (ASI), closing at 70,773.31 points compared with the previous day’s 70,613.60 points.
Yesterday, a total of 558.3 million stocks valued at N9.8 billion exchanged hands in 6,401 deals compared with the 449.3 million stocks worth N5.5 billion traded in 7,100 deals a day earlier, implying a decline in the number of deals by 9.85 per cent, a rise in the volume of transactions by 24.27 per cent, and a surge in the value of trades by 78.18 per cent.
FBN Holdings finished the session as the most active equity after selling 209.9 million units for N4.0 billion, UBA traded 53.7 million units worth N1.1 billion, Universal Insurance exchanged 43.7 million units valued at N10.2 million, Fidelity Bank transacted 22.3 million units valued at N203.7 million, and Unity Bank sold 18.0 million units worth N16.9 million.
Apart from the consumer goods index, which fell by 0.06 per cent, every other sector ended in the green zone, with the insurance counter rising by 2.67 per cent, the industrial goods space rose by 0.87 per cent, the banking sector improved by 0.26 per cent, while the energy sector closed flat.
The market breadth index was positive yesterday as there were 28 price gainers and 25 price losers led by Caverton, which fell by 9.87 per cent to N1.37. Meyer lost 9.85 per cent to quote at N2.47, SCOA Nigeria went down by 9.60 per cent to N1.13, Thomas Wyatt declined by 8.60 per cent to N3.72, and UPDC depreciated by 8.26 per cent to N1.11.
On the flip side, Japaul gained 9.87 per cent to end at N1.67, Mecure (the latest member of the bourse) rose by 9.80 per cent to N3.25, Prestige Assurance appreciated by 9.76 per cent to 45 Kobo, Cornerstone jumped by 9.72 per cent to N1.58, and Omatek chalked up 9.62 per cent to finish at 57 Kobo.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange crumbled by 0.57 per cent on Monday, March 24 after four stocks on the trading platform closed lower.
Okitipupa Plc gave up N22.66 during the session to settle at N285.00 per unit compared with the N307.66 per unit it was sold last Friday, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc lost 17 Kobo to trade at N37.00 per share versus N37.17 per share, Food Concepts Plc depreciated by 14 Kobo to close at N1.35 per unit compared with the preceding session’s N1.49 per unit, and Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc declined by 2 Kobo to finish at 35 Kobo per share, in contrast to the preceding trading day’s 37 Kobo per share.
Conversely, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc improved its value by 69 Kobo to sell at N23.53 per unit versus N22.84 per unit and UBN Property Plc gained 20 Kobo to quote at N2.20 per share, in contrast to the previous value of N2.00 per share.
When the bourse ended for the session, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) went down by 19.09 points to 3,339.52 points from the previous trading day’s 3,358.61 points, and the market capitalisation shrank by N11.03 billion to N1.928 trillion from N1.939 trillion.
The volume of securities traded at the NASD yesterday rose by 216.1 per cent to 961,456 units from the 304,188 units recorded last Friday, and the value of securities went up by 116.3 per cent to N22.1 million from N10.2 million, while the number of deals depreciated by 31.3 per cent to 22 deals from 32 deals.
Impresit Bakolori Plc remained the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 533.9 million units worth N520.9 million, followed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 13.3 million units valued at N513.7 million, and Afriland Properties Plc with 17.6 million units sold for N360.1 million.
Impresit Bakolori Plc was also the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 533.9 million units valued at N520.9 million, trailed by IGI Plc with 70.0 million units sold for N23.8 million, and Geo-Fluids Plc with 44.1 million units worth N88.9 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira opened the week stronger against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) and the black market segments on Tuesday, March 11.
In the official FX market, the domestic currency gained 0.31 per cent or N4.76 on the greenback to sell for N1,532.29/$1, in contrast to last Friday’s value of N1,537.05/$1, according to data obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
The local currency also improved its value against the Euro in the spot market during the session by N1.98 to quote at N1,655.83/€1 compared with the preceding session’s rate of N1,657.81/€1 but lost N7.86 against the Pound Sterling to trade at N1,980.75/£1 compared to the previously traded rate of N1,972.89/£1..
In the black market, the Nigerian currency gained N20 against the Dollar yesterday to finish at N1,570/$1 versus the previous trading day’s exchange rate of N1,590/$1.
Business Post reports that the forex market is still under pressure due to a spike in demand, but the recent injections by the apex bank helped to suppress it on Monday.
A look at the digital currency market showed that Dogecoin (DOGE) surged on Monday by 4.7 per cent to $0.1837 due to market optimism fueled by the possibility of milder US tariffs and the Federal Reserve’s plans for two rate cuts in 2025.
Memecoins, being highly speculative assets, often react strongly to broader crypto market trends, offering retail traders higher-risk, higher-reward opportunities.
During the trading session, Binance Coin (BNB) went up by 3.1 per cent to $643.67, Cardano (ADA) expanded by 2.6 per cent to $0.7445, Solana (SOL) grew by 1.4 per cent to $140.04, and the US Dollar Tether (USDT) appreciated by 0.1 per cent to $1.00.
On the flip side, Ripple (XRP) slumped by 1.7 per cent to $2.41, Litecoin (LTC) went down by 0.7 per cent to $92.67, Ethereum (ETH) depreciated by 0.7 per cent to $2,052.59, and Bitcoin (BTC) fell by 0.3 per cent to $86,704.99, while the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Crude oil prices went up by 1 per cent on Monday after the US President, Mr Donald Trump, threatened to impose a 25 per cent tariff on countries buying the oil and gas from Venezuela.
The price of Brent crude grew by 84 cents or 1.2 per cent to $73 a barrel and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude appreciated by 83 cents or 1.2 per cent to $69.11 per barrel.
President Trump’s new policy relieves some pressure on oil major Chevron to quickly exit Venezuela after the US Treasury Department on March 4 gave it 30 days to wind down operations.
Now, it has given the oil producer until May 27 to wind down its oil operations and exports from Venezuela.
Mr Trump had issued the initial wind-down after he accused Venezuelan President, Mr Nicolas Maduro, of not making progress on electoral reforms and migrant returns.
The two moves taken together alleviate some pressure on Chevron while putting more pressure on other consumers of Venezuelan oil.
However, market analysts noted that it is uncertain how the Trump administration will enforce the tariff.
Punishing foreign buyers of Venezuela’s oil with tariffs could hit its crude exports, forcing price discounts, and have a similar effect to secondary sanctions on the country that President Trump imposed during his first term in 2020.
The US last Thursday issued new sanctions intended to hit Iranian oil exports, including targeting Chinese independent refineries processing the country’s crude.
Also, the American President is mulling fresh tariffs on automobiles, aluminum and pharmaceuticals.
He has also urged the US Federal Reserve to lower interest rates after the central bank last week kept them unchanged.
Lower rates decrease the costs of borrowing, and can boost economic activity and demand for oil.
Meanwhile, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) will likely proceed with a planned May oil output hike.
This capped priced just as talks continued to end the war in Ukraine, which could increase supply of Russian crude to global markets.
Officials from the US and Russia were in Saudi Arabia on Monday for talks over a broad ceasefire in Ukraine, with the US also targeting a separate Black Sea maritime ceasefire deal while a wider agreement is discussed.
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