By Dipo Olowookere

Eighty equities appreciated on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited last week compared with the 84 equities recorded in the previous week, as 17 equities depreciated versus 22 equities in the preceding week, while 50 equities remained unchanged versus 42 equities of the earlier week.

NCR Nigeria gained 60.79 per cent to finish at N128.55, SCOA Nigeria grew by 59.36 per cent to N14.90, Deap Capital expanded by 48.67 per cent to N4.46, Jaiz Bank soared by 45.73 per cent to N8.19, and Omatek surged by 38.28 per cent to N1.77.

At the other end, Ikeja Hotel lost 12.38 per cent to settle at N35.05, Austin Laz declined by 9.20 per cent to N3.75, Eterna crashed by 7.71 per cent to N32.30, Universal Insurance went down by 7.69 per cent to N1.20, and Eunisell retreated by 7.57 per cent to N156.95.

The bourse remained bullish in the week, with the All-Share Index (ASI) up by 2.36 per cent to 166,129.50, and the market capitalisation up by 2.48 per cent to N106.354 trillion.

Similarly, all other indices finished higher apart from the AFR Div Yield index, which depreciated by 0.15 per cent.

In the five-day trading week, investors traded 4.607 billion shares worth N130.636 billion in 263,439 deals, in contrast to the 4.164 billion shares valued at N94.026 billion transacted in 248,254 deals a week earlier.

Further analysis showed that financial stocks led the activity chart with 3.126 billion units worth N47.225 billion traded in 94,186 deals, contributing 67.84 per cent and 36.15 per cent to the total trading volume and value, respectively.

Services equities followed with 353.436 million units sold for N5.096 billion in 17,764 deals, while ICT shares exchanged 277.263 million equities valued at N18.009 billion in 28,525 deals.

Sovereign Trust Insurance, Access Holdings, and Linkage Assurance were the busiest stocks last week, trading 1.406 billion units valued at N9.735 billion in 11,732 deals, contributing 30.52 per cent and 7.45 per cent to the total trading volume and value apiece.

By Dipo Olowookere

About 0.04 per cent was recovered on Friday from the loss recorded by the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) the previous due to profit-taking.

Yesterday, investors were in the market with renewed vigour, mopping up stocks trading at relatively cheaper prices.

According to data, the insurance counter gained 0.41 per cent, the banking sector appreciated by 0.38 per cent, and the consumer goods index grew by 0.14 per cent.

The gains achieved by these three sectors were enough to lift Customs Street at the close of business despite the 0.26 per cent decline printed by the industrial goods segment and the 0.14 per cent loss suffered by the energy industry. The commodity counter was flat during the session.

A total of 43 equities gained weight on the last trading day of this week, while 26 equities shed weight, indicating a positive market breadth index and strong investor sentiment.

Red Star Express increased its share price by 10.00 per cent to N13.20, NCR Nigeria grew by 9.97 per cent to N128.55, SCOA Nigeria inflated by 9.96 per cent to N14.90, Omatek appreciated by 9.94 per cent to N1.77, and Deap Capital expanded by 9.85 per cent to N4.46.

On the flip side, McNichols decreased by 8.81 per cent to N6.00, Legend Internet crumbled by 7.56 per cent to N5.50, Cornerstone Insurance crashed by 6.48 per cent to N6.35, C&I Leasing contracted by 6.29 per cent to N8.20, and Austin Laz slipped by 5.78 per cent to N3.75.

Yesterday, 539.9 million shares valued at N16.7 billion were transacted in 48,023 deals versus the 1.0 billion shares worth N31.6 billion executed in 51,227 deals in the preceding day, implying a shrink in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 46.01 per cent, 47.15 per cent, and 6.26 per cent apiece.

Zenith Bank was the most active for the day with 54.6 million stocks sold for N3.8 billion, Jaiz Bank traded 41.5 million units worth N359.4 million, Secure Electronic Technology transacted 37.7 million units valued at N39.2 million, Access Holdings exchanged 30.5 million units for N699.2 million, and Lasaco Assurance transacted 27.2 million units worth N68.3 million.

When the market closed for the day, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 72.21 points to 166,129.50 points from 166,057.29 points and the market capitalisation gained N31 billion to N106.354 trillion from N106.323 trillion.

By Adedapo Adesanya

It was a positive ending for the Naira this week after it further appreciated against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, January 16 by N1.33 or 0.09 per cent to sell for N1,417.95/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,419.28/$1.

The domestic currency also gained N2.41 against the Euro in the official market to close at N1,647.51/€1 versus the preceding session’s closing price of N1,649.92/€1, however, it suffered a N7.97 loss against the Pound Sterling in the same market window to trade at N1,901.32/£1, in contrast to Thursday’s closing price of N1,893.35/£1.

In the same vein, the Nigerian Naira depleted against the Dollar at the GTBank FX counter by N2 to quote at N1,427/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,425/$1, but strengthened against the greenback at the black market yesterday by N5 to settle at N1,485/$1 versus the N1,490/$1 it was exchanged a day earlier.

Improved supply conditions helped keep the market within range as exporters’ and importers’ inflows in addition to non-bank corporate supply enhanced liquidity as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) made no visible intervention.

Stronger external inflows from foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) and improving current account dynamics, continue to align with structural support in the wider economy.

Nigeria has seen projections of a stronger economic or gross domestic product (GDP) growth and lower inflation in 2026, with these forecasts citing improved macroeconomic fundamentals and reform impacts.

As for the cryptocurrency market, it was mixed following selloff in precious metals and lower US stocks appeared to be denting crypto sentiment.

Gold and silver, both of which also enjoyed big rallies earlier this week, tumbled 1.2 per cent and 5 per cent, respectively while key US stock indexes — the Nasdaq, S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average — all reversed from early gains to modest losses in Friday trade.

Dogecoin (DOGE) shrank by 2.2 per cent to $0.1370, Ripple (XRP) slipped by 0.8 per cent to $2.05, Ethereum (ETH) went down by 0.7 per cent to $3,228.56, and Bitcoin (BTC) slumped by 0.6 per cent to $95,086.80.

Conversely, Litecoin (LTC) appreciated by 3.2 per cent to $74.48, Solana (SOL) rose by 0.4 per cent to $143.70, Cardano (ADA) jumped by 0.2 per cent to $0.3942, and Binance Coin (BNB) increased by 0.1 per cent to $935.88, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.