Economy
Prices of Petrol, Cooking Gas Increase 7% in August 2024
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigerians saw a 7 per cent month-on-month increase in the average retail price of a litre of petrol and the average price of 5kg of cooking gas in August 2024, the latest data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) shows.
The stats office in its Petrol Price Watch for August 2024 said that a litre of petrol averaged N830.46 in August 2024 compared with the previous month’s N770.54 and N626.70 in August 2023.
On state profiles analysis, the report said Benue paid the highest average retail price of N941.24 per litre, followed by Bauchi and Gombe States at N935.71 and N925.00, respectively.
“Conversely, Delta, Cross River, and Edo paid the lowest average retail price at N667.50, N672.00, and N676.25, respectively,’’ it stated.
Analysis by zones showed that the North-East Zone recorded the highest average retail price in August 2024 at N908.21 while the South-West recorded the lowest price at N677.11 per litre.
The NBS also stated in its Diesel Price Watch Report for August 2024 that the average retail price was N1,406.05 per litre.
It said that the August 2024 price of N1,406.05 per litre amounted to a 64.58 per cent increase over the N854.32 per litre paid in August 2023.
“On a month-on-month basis, the price increased by 1.93 per cent from the N1,379.48 per litre recorded in July 2024,’’ it added.
On state profile analysis, the report said the highest average price per litre of diesel in August was recorded in Kaduna state at N1,979.23, followed by Bauchi at N1,927.34 and Taraba at N1,638.14.
On the other hand, the lowest price was recorded in Lagos at N1,237.14 per litre, followed by Ogun at N1,255.00 and Osun at N1,268.18.
In addition, the analysis by zones showed that the North-East Zone had the highest price of N1,621.23 per litre, while the South-West recorded the lowest price at N1,283.47 per litre.
Meanwhile, the average price of 5kg of cooking gas increased 7.62 per cent from N5,974.55 recorded in July 2024 to N6,430.02 in August 2024, an increment of 56.25 per cent from N4,115.32 in August 2023.
On state profile analysis, the report showed that Benue recorded the highest average price at N7,000 for 5kg cooking gas, followed by Rivers at N6,954.55, and Borno at N6,914.29.
It said on the other hand, Taraba recorded the lowest price at N5,600.67, followed by Abuja and Kogi at N5,825.00 and N5,857.56, respectively.
Analysis by zone showed that the South-East recorded the highest average retail price at N6,585.18 for 5kg cooking gas, followed by the South-South at N6,451.34.
“The North-Central recorded the lowest average retail price at N6,344.29,” the NBS said.
Also, the NBS said the average retail price for refilling a 12.5kg cooking gas increased by 9.05 per cent on a month-on-month basis from N14,261.57 in July 2024 to N15,552.56 in August 2024.
The report said the average retail price for 12.5kg cooking gas rose by 69.15 per cent on a year-on-year basis from N9,194.41 recorded in August 2023 to N15,552.56 in August 2024.
State profile analysis showed that Rivers recorded the highest average retail price of N17,086.36 for 12.5kg cooking gas, followed by Cross River with N17,050.00 and Abia with N17,012.52.
On the other hand, the report showed that the lowest average price for 12.5kg of cooking gas was recorded in Bauchi at N13,425.00, followed by Nassarawa and Adamawa at N13,640.94 and N13,725.00 respectively.
Analysis by zone showed that the South-South recorded the highest average retail price of N16,524.00 for 12.5kg cooking gas, followed by the South-East at N16,495.78
The report said the North-Central recorded the lowest price at N14,767.41.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange closed flat on Wednesday, August 5, as the market witnessed weaker trading activity with only two deals executed.
In the midweek session, the volume of securities exchanged by investors dropped 99.9 per cent to 802 units from the 1.6 million units recorded on Tuesday. The value of securities further decreased by 99.6 per cent to N208,240 from the preceding session’s N47.6 million, and the number of deals significantly went down by 93.9 per cent to two deals from the 33 deals recorded a day earlier.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc with 76.9 million units transacted for N5.5 billion.
GNI Plc was also the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units exchanged for N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million.
There were no price gainers or losers yesterday.
As a result, the market capitalisation stood unmoving at N2.739 trillion, while the NASD Security Index (NSI) remained unchanged at 4,563.96 points.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira slid against the US Dollar by N2.28 or 0.17 per cent in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Wednesday, August 5, to N1,363.85/$1 from N1,362.55/$1.
The local currency also declined against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N5.97 to close at N1,837.38/£1 compared with Tuesday’s closing rate of N1,831.41/£1, and against the Euro, it crashed by N6.54 to quote at N1,575.25/€1 versus the preceding session’s N1,568.71/€1.
But at the black market, the Nigerian Naira traded flat against the greenback yesterday at N1,400/$1, and also remained unchanged at the GTBank FX desk at N1,373/$1.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says rates have narrowed to below two per cent, while the country’s external reserves have risen above $52.5 billion, reflecting the impact of its ongoing monetary and foreign exchange reforms.
CBN Governor Yemi Cardoso, represented by the Acting Director of Corporate Communications and Investor Relations, Mrs Hakama Sidi-Ali, disclosed this on Tuesday during the CBN Fair in Gombe. He noted that reforms introduced since 2023 had significantly reduced the disparity between the official FX market and the parallel market.
“The Naira continues to strengthen, with the spread between official and Bureau de Change rates now below two per cent,” he said, adding that reserves at $52.5 billion were supported by sustained inflows and renewed investor confidence in the economy.
Interbank FX transactions slid as weaker market activities dropped total Dollar volume exchanged to $75.35 million, a 51.8 per cent decline from $156.23 million in turnover quoted at the previous close.
The deals at the NFEM window also fell as data from the central bank put Wednesday’s quote at 82 from 139.
In the cryptocurrency market, major were down as global risk sentiment softened as a key world equity index slipped and chipmakers fell.
The MSCI All Country World Index snapped a five-day run to fall 0.2 per cent as chipmakers retreated on both sides of the Pacific. South Korea’s Kospi, a bellwether for the AI trade, dropped 4.4 per cent.
Ripple (XRP) depleted by 1.7 per cent to $1.05, Binance Coin (BNB) decreased by 1.0 per cent to $594.87, Cardano (ADA) depreciated by 0.9 per cent to $0.1884, TRON (TRX) shrank by 0.2 per cent to $0.3261, Solana (SOL) crumbled by 0.1 per cent to $74.00, and Dogecoin (DOGE) went down by 0.1 per cent to $0.0697.
On the flip side, Ethereum (ETH) gained 2.3 per cent to trade at $1,911.41, and Bitcoin (BTC) rose by 0.8 per cent to $64,759.28, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.
By Dipo Olowookere
The domestic stock exchange rebounded by 0.05 per cent on Wednesday on the back of renewed bargain-hunting by investors, though the level of activity waned.
After bleeding for a few days, the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited heaved a sigh of relief yesterday, as the All-Share Index (ASI) gained 109.41 points to close at 244,912.24 points compared with the previous day’s 244,802.83 points, and the market capitalisation garnered N71 billion to settle at N158.087 trillion versus Tuesday’s N158.016 trillion.
Business Post reports that despite the rebound recorded by Customs Street at midweek, the market breadth index remained negative, as there were 20 price advancers and 29 price decliners, implying bearish investor sentiment.
Linkage Assurance appreciated by 9.94 per cent to N1.77, AVA Capital rose by 9.55 per cent to N10.90, Fortis Global Insurance advanced by 7.69 per cent to N2.80, McNichols gained 7.34 per cent to finish at N5.85, and Coronation Insurance surged by 5.51 per cent to N2.49.
Conversely, Honeywell Flour depreciated by 9.94 per cent to N16.30, PZ Cussons gave up 9.94 per cent to trade at N74.75, Zichis crashed by 9.74 per cent to N20.76, Learn Africa slipped by 9.62 per cent to N9.40, and Neimeth tumbled by 8.33 per cent to N8.25.
The busiest equity was FCMB, with a turnover of 369.2 million units valued at N4.1 billion. Chams transacted 46.7 million units worth N201.8 million, First Holdco transacted 43.5 million units for N5.7 billion, Access Holdings sold 29.8 million units worth N778.0 million, and Linkage Assurance exchanged 19.6 million units valued at N33.5 million.
At the close of transactions, market participants bought and sold 824.1 million units worth N25.5 billion in 48,114 deals, in contrast to the 1.6 billion units sold for N28.7 billion in 54,160 deals a day earlier, showing a shortfall in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 48.49 per cent, 11.15 per cent, and 11.16 per cent, respectively.
