Economy
Seplat, GTCO, Others Rebound NGX Index by 0.16%
By Dipo Olowookere
Trading activities on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited were bullish on Thursday as bargain-hunting dominated the landscape.
Investors renewed their confidence in Nigerian stocks during the session, leading to a last-minute rebound by 0.16 per cent. This was because, at midday, it was looking like the stock exchange would extend its loss for another trading session until the demand for Seplat, GTCO and other equities brought back the bulls.
Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) moved up by 109.46 points to 66,548.99 points from 66,439.53 points, as the market capitalisation grew by N60 billion to N36.423 trillion from N36.363 trillion.
The energy space appreciated by 5.42 per cent yesterday, and the banking counter improved by 0.33 per cent. But the consumer goods index shed 1.14 per cent, the insurance sector went down by 0.38 per cent, and the industrial goods counter dropped 0.01 per cent.
The best-performing stock on Thursday was NGX Group, which boasted its value by 10.00 per cent to N26.40, Seplat rose by 9.95 per cent to N1,837.00, Trans-Nationwide Express grew by 9.38 per cent to N1.05, University Press gained 9.32 per cent to close at N2.58, and ABC Transport appreciated by 8.64 per cent to 88 Kobo.
After losing 10.00 per cent, Multiverse ended the trading session as the worst-performing stock to close at N2.70, NASCON shed 9.81 per cent to N50.55, Honeywell Flour fell by 8.11 per cent to N3.40, May and Baker depreciated by 7.27 per cent to N5.10, and Jaiz Bank declined by 6.83 per cent to N1.50.
The market breadth index was positive yesterday after the bourse ended with 31 price gainers and 19 price losers, indicating a strong investor sentiment.
A total of 621.0 million stocks valued at N7.2 billion were transacted in 7,972 deals, in contrast to the 637.2 million stocks valued at N7.8 billion traded in 10,033 deals on Wednesday, implying a decline in the trading volume, value, and the number of deals by 2.54 per cent, 7.69 per cent, and 20.54 per cent, respectively.
Business Post reports that Sterling Holdings ended the day as the busiest, selling 161.0 million equities for N531.4 million, Transcorp exchanged 135.7 million shares valued at N847.5 million, Fidelity Bank traded 57.6 million stocks worth N403.3 million, FTN Cocoa transacted 47.2 million shares worth N97.4 million, and Dangote Sugar traded 28.9 million equities valued at N1.6 billion.
Economy
Nigeria Led Africa’s Upstream Oil, Gas Investments in 2024
By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria ranked as Africa’s leading destination for upstream oil and gas investment in 2024, new research from market intelligence firm, Wood Mackenzie, has shown, accounting for three out of four Final Investment Decisions (FIDs) announced by global oil and gas majors, totaling $13.5 billion.
The FIDs announced within the Nigerian market included Shell’s $122 million investment in the Iseni Gas Project, TotalEnergies’ $566 million commitment to the Ubeta Gas Project and Shell’s approval of the Bonga North Tranche 1 project valued at around $5 billion.
According to the Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Energy, Ms Olu Verheijen, these investments reflected Nigeria’s ongoing efforts to unlock its hydrocarbon potential through investor-friendly policies and strategic global partnerships.
Last year, Nigeria introduced several initiatives to create a conducive environment for oil and gas investors, including new tax incentives aimed at attracting up to $10 billion in natural gas investments.
Nigeria, which is Africa’s largest oil producer, also offered tax relief for gas investors, reducing corporate income tax and extending capital allowance benefits – for deepwater gas projects.
Other policies include the Presidential Directive on Local Content Compliance Requirements 2024 to address the reduction in oil and gas investments caused by high operating costs compared to global markets.
Also, the Presidential Directive on Reduction of Petroleum Sector Contracting Costs and Timelines 2024 reduces the time spent to award contracts for oil and gas projects.
In addition to the directives, Nigeria also launched its 2024 oil and gas licensing round, offering 19 blocks for exploration, demonstrating its commitment to continued collaboration with local, regional and international partners.
Market analysts note that with this momentum, further FIDs are anticipated, including TotalEnergies’ expected $750 million commitment to the Ima Shallow Gas Project in 2025.
Economy
UBN Property Triggers 0.22% Loss at NASD OTC Exchange
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange recorded a 0.22 per cent decline on Monday, January 20, with the market capitalisation shedding N2.35 billion to close at N1.073 trillion compared with the preceding session’s N1.075 trillion and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) going down by 6.79 points to wrap the session at 3,105.12 points compared with 3,111.91 points recorded in the previous session.
It was observed that the loss recorded on the first trading day of the week was triggered by UBN Property Plc, which crashed by 20 Kobo to trade at N2.00 per share versus last Friday’s N2.20 per share.
However, the share price of Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc went up by 4 Kobo to 40 Kobo per unit from 36 Kobo per unit, it could not stop the bourse from going down at the close of transactions.
The activity chart showed that on Monday, the volume of securities traded by investors increased by 57.9 per cent to 767,610 units from the 486,215 units traded in the preceding session, while the value of shares traded yesterday slumped by 17.7 per cent to N2.3 million from the N2.8 million recorded in the preceding trading day, as the number of deals declined by 14.3 per cent to 12 deals from the 14 deals carried out in the previous trading day.
At the close of transactions, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc remained the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with the sale of 4.1 million units worth N162.9 million, followed by Geo-Fluids Plc with a turnover of 9.1 million units valued at N44.0 million, and 11 Plc with the sale of 55,358 for N14.5 million.
Also, Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc closed the day as the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 25.3 million units sold for N5.9 million, Geo-Fluids Plc came next with 9.1 million units valued at N44.0 million, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 4.1 million units worth N162.9 million.
Economy
Naira Weakens to N1,550/$1 at Official Market, Gains N5 at Black Market
By Adedapo Adesanya
The value of the Naira weakened against the US Dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Monday, January 20 amid FX pressures associated with this period.
Most people who came into the country for Christmas and New Year holidays are already going back and are in need of forex, putting pressure on the local currency.
Also, the poor performance of the domestic currency could be attributed to end to the 42-day access granted by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to Bureaux de Change (BDC) operators to buy forex at official price.
According to data from the FMDQ Securities Exchange, the Nigerian Naira lost 0.16 per cent or N2.47 on the greeback yesterday to sell at N1,550.05/$1, in contrast to last Friday’s rate of N1,547.58/$1.
Similarly, the Naira slumped against the Pound Sterling in the spot market on Monday by N23.39 to trade at N1,906.98/£1 versus N1,883.59/£1 and depreciated against the Euro by N23.14 to sell for N1,613.48/€1 compared with last Friday’s N1,590.34/€1.
However, in the parallel market, the Nigerian currency improved its value against the Dollar during the session by N5 to quote at N1,665/$1 compared with the previous session’s N1,670/$1.
As for the cryptocurrency market, it turned red yesterday as the US President, Mr Donald Trump, didn’t bring up the much-expected subject of crypto in his inauguration speech on Monday afternoon.
Mr Trump had promised a far more friendly crypto policy stance than the previous administration but in the long speech that announced his plans in the coming days, he didn’t make mention of Bitcoin or crypto.
Just over the weekend, the President ignited a speculative frenzy with the Friday evening launch of the Trump meme coin, which was shortly followed by a meme coin associated with his wife, Melania.
Dogecoin (DOGE) crumbled yesterday by 6.3 per cent to $0.3419, Solana (SOL) slumped by 4.7 per cent to $235.32, Cardano (ADA) fell by 3.6 per cent to $0.9777, and Litecoin (LTC) moderated by 1.9 per cent to $114.98.
Further, Ethereum (ETH) went down by 1.7 per cent to $3,241.36, Binance Coin (BNB) retreated by 1.4 per cent to $693.30, Ripple (XRP) depreciated by 1.2 per cent to $3.06, and Bitcoin (BTC) tumbled by 0.8 per cent to $101,746.99, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
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