Economy
Stock Market Grows By N282b As Economy Relapses
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Trading at the Nigerian Stock Exchange on Thursday gained strength a day after the country’s economy went into recession.
The market capitalisation recorded a growth of N282bn at the close of trading on Thursday with a total of 25 stocks appreciating in price, while 13 recording price declines.
In all, the market traded on 229.225 million shares worth N2.117bn in 3,243 deals.
The NSE market capitalisation soared to N9.760tn from N9.478tn, while the NSE All-Share Index also closed at 28,419.92 basis points from 27,599.03 basis points.
The highest index point attained in the course of trading was 28,419.92 basis points, while the lowest and average index points were 27,368.41 and 27,666.28 basis points respectively.
Dangote Cement Plc, CAP Plc, FCMB Group Plc, AIICO Insurance Plc and Wema Bank Plc emerged as the top five gainers.
The shares of Dangote Cement appreciated by N15.11 (8.59 per cent) to close at N191 from N175.89, while those of CAP closed at N31.57 from N30.09, gaining N1.48 (4.92 per cent).
FCMB share price also appreciated by N0.05 (4.90 per cent) to close at N1.07 from N1.02, while AIICO shares soared to N0.66 from N0.63, gaining N0.03 (4.76 per cent).
Wema Bank shares also gained N0.03 (4.55 per cent) to close at N0.69 from N0.66.
Other gainers were Sterling Bank Plc, Fidson Plc, Trans-nationwide Express Plc, NPF Microfinance Bank Plc, Law Union and Rocks Insurance Plc, Fidelity bank Plc, amonmg others.
On the other hand, Caverton Offshore Support Group Plc, Tripple G Plc, Chellaram Plc, May and Baker Nigeria Plc, Cutix Plc, among others emerged as the top five losers.
The NSE had on Wednesday, appreciated by N36bn despite confirmation by the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics that the economy was in recession.
The equity market maintained positive momentum, appreciating by 0.39 per cent.
The NSE market capitalisation rose to N9.478tn from NN9.442tn, while the All-Share Index closed at 27,599.03 basis points from 27,493.12 basis points.
A total of 262.614 million shares valued at N4.881bn exchanged hands in 3,302 deals.
The second quarter 2016 Gross Domestic Product data showed a contraction of 2.06 per cent year-on-year (Q1 2016: -0.36 per cent). July headline inflation spiked to 17.1 per cent year-on-year from 16.5 per cent and unemployment rate jumped to 13.3 per cent from 12.1 per cent.
On the global scene, markets traded mixed as investors reacted to a slew of data from the Eurozone and looked forward to the key August United States non-farm payroll data due Friday.
Having lost in the previous session, the oil and gas and financial services sectors rebounded to lead advances, following gains on Seplat Petroleum Development Company Limited(+10.25 per cent), Oando Plc (0.61 per cent), Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (1.53 per cent), Ecobank Transnational Incorporated Plc (0.35 per cent) and FBN Holdings Plc (1.67 per cent).
The consumer goods and industrial goods sectors continued on an upward trend, albeit marginal, as 7UP Bottling Company Plc (9.38 per cent gains), Honeywell flour Mill Plc (five per cent loss), Dangote Cement Plc (0.22 per cent gain) and Julius Berger Nigeria Plc (9.71 per cent loss) traded mixed.
Market breadth turned negative with 19 advances and 21 declines.
Source: http://punchng.com/stock-market-grows-n282bn-economy-recedes/
By Adedapo Adesanya
The decline in the share price of Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc weakened the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 1.02 per cent on Wednesday, August 12.
The securities depository company suffered a N10.88 loss to close at N106.00 per unit compared with the previous day’s N116.88 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation, for the third time this week, closed lower, losing N28.04 billion to finish at N2.720 trillion compared with the N2.748 trillion it ended a day earlier. The NASD Security Index (NSI) dropped 46.71 points to end at 4,532.03 points versus Tuesday’s 4,578.74 points.
Yesterday, there was a price gainer, which was FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc. Its price increased by N13.50 to N170.00 per share from N156.50 per share.
The level of activity for the session waned on Wednesday, with the volume of securities down by 89.8 per cent to 150,340 units from the previous session’s 1.5 million units. The value of securities slumped by 55.9 per cent to N18.7 million from N42.3 million, and the number of deals depreciated by 37.3 per cent to 32 deals from Tuesday’s 51 deals.
At the close of business, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc was the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units transacted for N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 77.2 million units traded for N5.5 billion.
GNI Plc was also the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth 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 sold for N415.7 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Foreign exchange (FX) pressure eased on the Naira on Wednesday. August 12, at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX). Its value appreciated against the United States Dollar by 0.17 per cent or N2.31 to close at N1,360.58/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,364.89/$1.
The Nigerian Naira also improved its value against the Pound Sterling at midweek at the official FX market by N1.62 to quote at N1,840.99, in contrast to Tuesday’s rate of N1,842.61/£1. It gained N3.49 against the Euro during the session to settle at N1,572.01/€1 versus the preceding session’s N1,575.50/€1.
However, the Naira depreciated against the greenback yesterday at the GTBank forex counter by N3 to sell for N1,370/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,367/$1, and at the parallel market, it maintained stability at N1,395/$1.
Data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) indicated that interbank FX turnover rose sharply by 481 per cent to $168.758 million from $29.060 million due to an increase in banks’ activities as intermediaries for their customers.
The apex bank data indicated that the number of deals at the interbank FX market surged to 190 from 47 the previous day.
As for the digital currency market, benchmarked tokens were more positive in line with the US inflation report that eased nerves but failed to spark a broad crypto rally.
Headline inflation rose 0.1 per cent on the month and 3.4 per cent on the year, with the core measure that strips out food and energy up 0.2 per cent and easing to 2.5 per cent.
July inflation matched forecasts, reinforcing expectations that the Federal Reserve can wait on further rate moves and prompting modest gains in gold, equities and some digital assets.
TRON (TRX) grew by 0.7 per cent to $0.3374, Binance Coin (BNB) jumped by 0.4 per cent to $612.84, Ethereum (ETH) rose by 0.3 per cent to $1,892.73, Solana (SOL) increased by 0.3 per cent to $76.37, and Bitcoin (BTC) added 0.2 per cent to sell at $63,768.51.
On the flip side, DOGE slipped by 1.6 per cent to $0.0705, Cardano (ADA) lost 1.1 per cent to end at $0.1844, and Ripple (XRP) declined by 0.7 per cent to $1.01, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 apiece.
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited tumbled by 1.12 per cent on Wednesday as a result of selling pressure in three of the five key sectors of the bourse.
Yesterday, the insurance space rose by 0.71 per cent and the energy counter appreciated by 0.02 per cent. But these gains were erased by the three other sectors, with the consumer goods index down by 4.93 per cent, the industrial goods sector down by 0.42 per cent, and the banking segment down by 0.30 per cent.
Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) receded by 2,756.48 points to 243,967.09 points from 246,723.57 points, and the market capitalisation dropped by N1.762 trillion to close at N157.494 trillion compared with Tuesday’s N159.256 trillion.
The worst-performing stock for the day was BUA Foods, which lost 10.00 per cent to trade at N760.60. Unilever Nigeria shed 9.97 per cent to close at N131.40, John Holt depreciated by 9.90 per cent to N9.10, AVA Capital declined by 9.50 per cent to N8.10, and Austin Laz crashed by 8.81 per cent to N2.90.
The best-performing stock for the session was International Energy Insurance, which chalked up 10.00 per cent to quote at N4.40. Ecobank gained 9.93 per cent to settle at N71.40, Trans-Nationwide Express expanded by 9.77 per cent to N2.36, CWG grew by 9.74 per cent to N21.40, and Cornerstone Insurance improved by 6.80 per cent to N5.50.
Yesterday, 1.5 billion shares were sold for N20.9 billion in 39,085 deals compared with the 3.9 billion shares worth N32.4 billion exchanged in 45,608 deals a day earlier, representing a decline in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 61.54 per cent, 35.49 per cent, and 14.30 per cent, respectively.
On top of the activity chart was Fortis Global Insurance, with a turnover of 853.2 million units sold for N2.6 billion. Universal Insurance exchanged 251.8 million units worth N214.1 million, Chams transacted 40.0 million units valued at N181.0 million, First Holdco traded 28.3 million units worth N3.9 billion, and Access Holdings sold 25.4 million units valued at N702.4 million.
