Economy
Stock Exchange Reverses Loss by 0.02% as Investors Pick Interest in Courteville
By Dipo Olowookere
The nation’s stock exchange rebounded on Tuesday by 0.02 per cent on the back of fresh bargain hunting by investors, especially in banking and energy equities.
Strong indications that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will retain key monetary rates yesterday also inspired the renewed confidence investors had in the market.
At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited rose by 11.24 points to 45,939.51 points from 45,928.27 points, while the market capitalisation increased by N6 billion to N24.755 trillion from N24.749 trillion.
On the price movement chart, there were 20 appreciating stocks and 15 depreciating stocks at the close of transactions on Tuesday, indicating a positive market breadth.
Courteville led the gainers’ table yesterday, further rising by 10.00 per cent to trade at 55 kobo. The stock has been on a steady rise lately and this has triggered traders’ interest in the company.
Ecobank appreciated by 9.94 per cent to trade at N9.95, Academy Press rose by 9.72 per cent to 79 kobo, Champion Breweries improved by 8.05 per cent to N2.55, while Regency Assurance gained 5.26 per cent to sell for 40 kobo.
On the flip side, C&I Leasing topped the losers’ log after its share price went down by 10.00 per cent to N3.78 and was trailed by Prestige Assurance, which fell by 9.80 per cent to 46 kobo.
Cornerstone Insurance depreciated by 3.77 per cent to 51 kobo, Mutual Benefits dropped 3.70 per cent to trade at 26 kobo, while UPDC depreciated by 3.45 per cent to N1.12.
In terms of the performance of the five major sectors of the exchange during the session, it was observed that the energy, banking and consumer goods sectors closed higher by 0.69 per cent, 0.52 per cent and 0.08 per cent respectively, while the insurance and industrial goods sectors depreciated by 0.88 per cent and 0.03 per cent apiece.
A look at the activity chart showed that the trading volume went down by 11.10 per cent to 247.7 million units from 278.6 million units, while the trading value rose by 23.90 per cent to N3.6 billion from N2.9 billion, with the number of deals appreciating by 4.61 per cent to 4,242 deals from 4,447 deals.
GTCO was the most active stock of the session, trading 24.5 million units valued at N625.4 million, followed by Courteville, which traded 21.4 million units worth N11.8 million.
Transcorp traded 20.4 million equities worth N21.7 million, Zenith Bank sold 17.3 million stocks valued at N440.5 million, while Chams exchanged 16.6 million shares worth N3.3 million.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
A minority equity stake in Chappal Energies Mauritius Limited has been acquired by a Nigerian energy firm, Aradel Holdings Plc.
This deal came a few days after Chappal Energies purchased a 53.85 per cent equity stake in Equinor Nigeria Energy Company Limited (ENEC).
Chappal Energies went into the deal with Equinor to take part in the oil and gas lease OML 128, including the unitised 20.21 per cent stake in the Agbami oil field, operated by Chevron.
Since production started in 2008, the Agbami field has produced more than one billion barrels of oil, creating value for Nigerian society and various stakeholders.
As part of the deal, Chappal will assume the operatorship of OML 129, which includes several significant prospects and undeveloped discoveries (Nnwa, Bilah and Sehki).
The Nnwa discovery is part of the giant Nnwa-Doro field, a major gas resource with significant potential to deliver value for Nigeria.
In a separate transaction, on July 17, 2024, Chappal and Total Energies sealed an SPA for the acquisition by Chappal of 10 per cent of the SPDC JV.
The relevant parties to this transaction are working towards closing out this transaction and Ministerial Approval and NNPC consent to accede to the Joint Operating Agreement have been obtained.
“This acquisition is in line with diversifying our asset base, deepening our gas competencies and gaining access to offshore basins using low-risk approaches.
“We recognise the strategic role of gas in Nigeria’s energy future and are happy to expand our equity holding in this critical resource.
“We are committed to the cause of developing the significant value inherent in the assets, which will be extremely beneficial to the country.
“Aradel hopes to bring its proven execution competencies to bear in supporting Chappal’s development of these opportunities,” the chief executive of Aradel Holdings, Mr Adegbite Falade, stated.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Afriland Properties Plc helped the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange record a 0.04 per cent gain on Tuesday, December 10 as the share price of the property investment rose by 34 Kobo to N16.94 per unit from the preceding day’s N16.60 per unit.
As a result of this, the market capitalisation of the bourse went up by N380 million to remain relatively unchanged at N1.056 trillion like the previous trading day.
But the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) closed higher at 3,014.36 points after it recorded an addition of 1.09 points to Monday’s closing value of 3,013.27 points.
The NASD OTC securities exchange recorded a price loser and it was Geo-Fluids Plc, which went down by 2 Kobo to close at N3.93 per share, in contrast to the preceding day’s N3.95 per share.
During the trading session, the volume of securities bought and sold by investors increased by 95.8 per cent to 2.4 million units from the 1.2 million securities traded in the preceding session.
However, the value of shares traded yesterday slumped by 3.7 per cent to N4.9 million from the N5.07 million recorded a day earlier, as the number of deals surged by 27.3 per cent to 14 deals from 11 deals.
Geo-Fluids Plc remained the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 1.7 billion units sold for N3.9 billion, trailed by Okitipupa Plc with 752.2 million units valued at N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc with 297.5 million units worth N5.3 million.
Also, Aradel Holdings Plc remained the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 108.7 million units worth N89.2 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 752.2 million units valued at N7.8 billion, and Afriland Properties Plc with 297.5 million units sold for N5.3 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira continued to appreciate on the US Dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), gaining 0.7 per cent or N10.23 on Tuesday, December 10 to trade at N1,542.27/$1 compared with the preceding day’s N1,552.50/$1.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)-backed Electronic Foreign Exchange Matching System (EFEMS) platform introduced to tackle speculation and improve transparency in Nigeria’s FX market has been attributed as the source of the Naira’s appreciation.
Speculators holding foreign currencies, particularly the US Dollar, have seen the value of their money drastically drop due to the appreciation of the local currency. This is forcing them to dump greenback into the system and take the domestic currency alternative- a move that has seen available FX increase.
Equally, the domestic currency improved its value against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the trading day by N6.81 to sell for N1,955.12/£1 compared with Monday’s closing price of N1,961.93/£1 and against the Euro, it gained N10.84 to close at N1,613.00/€1, in contrast to the previous day’s rate of N1,623.84/€1.
Data from the FMDQ Securities Exchange showed that the value of forex transactions significantly increased yesterday by $228.85 million or 257.2 per cent to $401.17 million from the preceding session’s $112.32 million.
However, in the parallel market, the Nigerian currency weakened against the US Dollar on Tuesday by N5 to settle at N1,625/$1 compared with the previous day’s value of N1,620/$1.
In the cryptocurrency market, Dogecoin (DOGE) lost 4.8 per cent to sell at $0.39116, Litecoin (LTC) depreciated by 3.3 per cent to trade at $110.25, Binance Coin (BNB) went south by 2.3 per cent to $681.44, Ethereum (ETH) dropped 1.6 per cent to finish at $3,671.08, and Cardano (ADA) slid by 0.5 per cent to $0.8837
Conversely, Ripple (XRP) jumped by 5.4 per cent to $2.23 amid a continued shift for the coin with its parent company seeing the benefits of a crypto-friendly regulatory environment for US-based companies.
XRP is closely related to Ripple Labs, a high-profile payments company targeted by the SEC in 2020 on allegations of selling the token as a security to U.S. investors. Ripple fully cleared a long-drawn court case in 2024.
Further, Solana (SOL) expanded by 0.8 per cent to $219.75, Bitcoin (BTC) grew by 0.4 per cent to $97,446.95, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
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