Economy
Sell-Offs in Banking, Consumer Goods Equities Leave NGX in Bears Territory
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited spent another day in the territory of the bears on Wednesday, the last trading session of April 2025 after it closed lower by 0.12 per cent due to profit-taking.
Data showed that Customs Street did not survive the onslaught of the bears because of the selling pressure on two of the six major sectors of the market.
Business Post reports that the consumer goods index was down by 1.98 per cent and the banking space went down by 1.46 per cent at the close of trades.
However, the insurance sector gained 0.87 per cent, and the energy industry grew by 0.04 per cent, while the industrial goods and commodity sectors closed flat.
When the bourse ended for the session, the All-Share Index (ASI) declined by 130.33 points to 105,800.85 points from 105,931.18 points and the market capitalisation dwindled by N81 billion to N66.496 trillion from N66.577 trillion.
Ecobank topped the losers’ table after it lost 10.00 per cent to settle at N28.80, International Breweries also fell by 10.00 per cent to trade at N7.38, Ikeja Hotel weakened by 9.89 per cent to N12.30, Cadbury Nigeria depreciated by 9.80 per cent to N29.00, and Austin Laz slumped by 9.52 per cent to N1.71.
On the flip side, University Press gained 10.00 per cent to sell for N3.74, Vitafoam Nigeria expanded by 10.00 per cent to N52.80, Livestock Feeds improved by 9.97 per cent to N8.49, C&I Leasing leapt by 9.89 per cent to N4.00, and McNichols advanced by 9.88 per cent to N1.89.
Despite the loss recorded by the NGX yesterday, investor sentiment remained bullish after it ended with 39 price gainers and 25 price losers, implying a positive market breadth index.
A total of 393.0 million shares worth N12.8 billion exchanged hands in 17,519 deals at midweek versus the 733.1 million shares valued at N35.3 billion traded in 16,619 deals a day earlier, showing a jump in the number of deals by 5.42 per cent, and a slip in the trading volume and value by 46.39 per cent and 63.74 per cent, respectively.
The busiest stock for the day was UBA with 38.9 million units valued at N1.4 billion, Wema Bank sold 26.6 million units worth N400.0 million, Fidelity Bank transacted 25.4 million units for N525.1 million, Access Holdings exchanged 25.0 million units valued at N565.2 million, and Zenith Bank traded 20.7 million units worth N992.3 million.
The local stock market will be closed for business today, Thursday, May 1, 2025, because of the public holiday declared by the federal government to commemorate Workers’ Day. Trading activities will resume tomorrow.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria met its production quota set by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) as crude oil and condensate production soared to an average of 1,735,398 barrels per day in June 2026, representing positive growth for a fourth consecutive month.
This is according to a statement released by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) and signed by its Head of Media and Corporate Communications, Mr Eniola Akinkuotu, on Sunday.
The regulator noted that in June, crude oil production hit 1.56 million barrels per day while 0.18 million barrels per day of condensates were produced. The commission revealed that Nigeria met 104 per cent of the 1.5 million barrels per day crude oil production quota set by OPEC.
Business Post reports that OPEC quota doesn’t account for condensates in its count.
In strict crude oil terms (excluding condensates), the 1.56 million daily average production Nigeria witnessed in June is the highest that Africa’s biggest oil producer has recorded since April 2020, thus representing a 74-month high.
In June, NUPRC noted that the peak combined crude oil and condensate production was 1.89 million barrels per day, reflecting Nigeria’s potential to reach 2 million barrels per day in the near term. However, the lowest production was 1.57 million barrels per day for the period in review.
According to the upstream regulator, the improved performance was primarily driven by stable production operations across most producing assets and the absence of any major pipeline outages during the period under review.
This enhanced operational stability supported improved production uptime and crude evacuation efficiency.
Nigeria, which is Africa’s biggest oil producer, has not been able to top its record-high production of 2.5 million barrels per day recorded in 2025 due to challenges ranging from underinvestment to oil theft.
By Dipo Olowookere
On the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited last week, investors transacted 3.648 billion shares worth N220.568 billion in 251,861 deals compared with the 3.821 billion shares valued at N154.393 billion traded in 258,567 deals a week earlier.
Analysis showed that financial stocks led the activity chart with 2.899 billion units sold for N147.360 billion in 106,603 deals, accounting for 79.48 per cent and 66.81 per cent of the total trading volume and value, respectively.
Services equities recorded a turnover of 164.914 million units valued at N3.615 billion in 16,375 deals, and the consumer goods shares exchanged 157.451 million units worth N7.777 billion in 27,950 deals.
First Holdco, Zenith Bank, and Fidelity Bank were the busiest stocks for the five-day trading week, trading 1.745 billion units valued at N121.828 billion in 31,053 deals, contributing 47.85 per cent and 55.23 per cent to the total trading volume and value, respectively.
Business Post reports that 60 equities appreciated during the week versus 22 equities in the previous week, 28 shares depreciated versus 57 shares of the preceding week, and 58 stocks closed flat versus 67 stocks of the previous week.
International Breweries gained 40.00 per cent to trade at N13.30, RT Briscoe expanded by 32.02 per cent to N13.40, Livestock Feeds improved by 28.47 per cent to N9.25, First Holdco chalked up 25.82 per cent to close at N69.20, and Abbey Bank rose by 23.65 per cent to N9.15.
On the flip side, McNichols lost 28.57 per cent to finish at N5.00, Thomas Wyatt gave up 11.64 per cent to quote at N2.43, Geregu Power declined by 10.00 per cent to N825.70, CAP shed 9.99 per cent to settle at N157.60, and Guinness Nigeria also slipped by 9.99 per cent to N329.00.
Customs Street was under buying pressure last week, making the All-Share Index (ASI) and the market capitalisation close higher by 6.35 per cent to 243,798.76 points and N156.445 trillion, respectively.
In the same vein, all other indices finished higher apart from the growth and sovereign bond indices, which depreciated by 7.43 per cent and 0.02 per cent, respectively.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange rose by 2.30 per cent, spurring the NASD Security Index (NSI) to close higher by 96.61 points to 4,296.34 points from 4,199.73 points, and raising the market capitalisation by N57.99 billion to N2.578 trillion from N2.521 trillion.
The market was up yesterday despite a lower activity level, as the volume of securities traded slumped by 94.7 per cent to 1.3 million units from the previous 23.9 million units. The value of securities slipped by 57.2 per cent to N29.2 million from the preceding session’s N68.2 million, while the number of deals executed by market participants increased by 6.7 per cent to 32 deals from the 30 deals carried out on Thursday.
At the close of transactions, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with a turnover of 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, trailed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units valued at N6.5 billion in trades, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc with 70.8 million units traded for N4.9 billion.
GNI Plc was also the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units exchanged for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million.
During the trading day, there were three price gainers and two price losers, led by Afriland Properties Plc, which shed N1.48 to sell at N15.17 per share compared with the previous session’s N16.65 per share, and Food Concepts Plc, which slid by 7 Kobo to close at N2.69 per unit versus N2.76 per unit.
Conversely, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc improved its value by N9.50 to trade at N150.00 per share compared with Thursday’s closing price of N140.50 per share, CSCS Plc went up by N7.95 to N89.65 per unit from N81.70 per unit, and 11 Plc soared by N6.94 to N206.95 per share from N200.01 per share.
