Economy
Renewed Investor Confidence Triggers N70bn Profit on Stocks
By Dipo Olowookere
After days of panic trading as a result of unrest in some parts of the country, which necessitated the declaration of curfew in Lagos and other states, investors are beginning to show strong confidence in the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
On Friday, the last trading day of the week, investors embarked on bargain hunting, mopping up some stocks especially in the banking sector they believe could give good yields in the coming days.
Already, the investment community is awaiting the release of third quarter earnings of most companies on the exchange and the few ones released so far have shown what should be expected.
In order to benefit from the possible rise in the prices of value stocks at the market, smart investors are already taking a position and at the close of transactions today, the bourse appreciated by 0.47 per cent.
This boosted the All-Share Index (ASI) by 133.19 points to 28,697.06 points from 28,563.87 points and raised the market capitalisation by N70 billion to N15.000 trillion from N14.930 trillion.
Business Post reports that four of the major sub-sectors tracked during the session appreciated as only the insurance index closed negative by 0.12 per cent.
The banking space grew by 1.69 per cent, the industrial goods sector appreciated by 0.46 per cent, the consumer goods counter gained 0.29 per cent and the energy space increased by 0.03 per cent.
The market breadth closed positive today with 20 price gainers and six price losers and this showed a positive investor sentiment.
NASCON was the highest price gainer as its share price rose by N1.30 to settle at N14.30 per unit, while Dangote Cement gained N1 to finish at N151 per share.
GTBank appreciated by 45 kobo to sell for N30.45 per unit, Zenith Bank improved by 35 kobo to close at N21 per share, while PZ Cussons gained 30 kobo to quote at N4.40 per unit.
The heaviest price loser of the day was Northern Nigerian Flour Mills as the company’s stock depreciated by 46 kobo to settle at N4.19 per share.
Vitafoam went down by 20 kobo to N6 per unit, NPF Microfinance Bank depreciated by 6 kobo to N1.34 per unit, Honeywell Flour slumped by 4 kobo to 91 kobo per unit, while Union Diagnostic declined by one kobo to sell at 26 kobo per share.
The level of activity further declined on Friday as the trading volume, value and number of deals went down by 9.11 per cent, 5.64 per cent and 12.83 per cent respectively.
This was because the trading volume dropped to 283.0 million units from 311.3 million units, the trading value reduced to N4.4 billion from N4.7 billion, while the number of deals slipped to 2,942 from 3,375 at the close of trading activities.
Banking stocks continued to dominate the activity chart, while Access Bank was the most traded equity after transacting 80.5 million units valued at N622.9 million.
GTBank traded 76.5 million shares worth N2.3 billion, UBA exchanged 24.9 million equities for N174.4 million, FBN Holdings traded 24.4 million stocks worth N149.2 million, while Zenith Bank transacted 19.6 million shares valued at N409.3 million.
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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