Economy
Price Losses by Tier-1 Banks Sink Nigerian Equities by 0.12%
By Dipo Olowookere
Local stocks suffered further losses on Friday following the poor performance put up by equities in the banking space.
The banking index closed 1.47 percent lower yesterday following price depreciation recorded by Zenith Bank, GTBank and other big players in the sector.
At the close of trading on Friday, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) declined by 0.12 percent with the year-to-date loss at 15.32 percent.
While the All-Share Index (ASI) lost 40.42 absolute points to close at 32,383.15 points, the market capitalisation reduced by N15 billion to settle at N11.822 trillion.
However, despite the loss at the market yesterday, the market breadth finished positive with 21 price gainers and 15 price losers.
Zenith Bank led the fallers’ chart after going down by 85 kobo to close at N21.55k per share and was followed by GTBank, which went down by 35 kobo to finish at N36.40k per share.
FBN Holdings lost 20 kobo to end at N8.90k per share, Union Bank crashed by 10 kobo to settle at N5 per share, while NASCON also shed 10 kobo to close at N18.50k per share.
Conversely, Nigerian Breweries topped the risers’ log yesterday, gaining N3.20k at the close of business to finish at N89.70k per share.
Guinness Nigeria rose by 95 kobo to end at N79 per share, while UAC of Nigeria grew by 80 kobo to settle at N11.50k per share.
Newrest ASL Nigeria appreciated by 40 kobo to finish at N6 per share, while Cadbury Nigeria also increased by 40 kobo to end at N9.65k per share.
A look at the activity chart showed that the Financial Services sector led with 142.2 million shares sold for N1.1 billion with the Consumer Goods industry following with 8.7 million equities traded for N297 million.
Further analysis of the chart indicated that more shares of FCMB were traded yesterday, accounting for 42.1 million units worth N72.3 million.
Access Bank exchanged 32.6 million equities valued at N262 million, while Zenith Bank sold 12.4 million shares worth N276 million.
Fidelity Bank exchanged 11.4 million equities valued at N20.7 million, while GTBank transacted 10.5 million shares for N384.3 million.
At the end of the day, the volume of equities traded increased by 10.11 percent, while the value went down by 3.72 percent.
A total of 166.7 million shares exchanged hands on Friday in 2,431 deals worth N1.49 billion in contrast to the 151.4 million equities sold on Thursday in 2,356 deals valued at N1.54 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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