Economy

Stocks Shed N110bn as Investors Await Buhari’s Team

Published

6 years ago

16/07/2019

By Dipo Olowookere

The stock market commenced trading for the new week on a negative note on Monday with a 0.79 percent loss as the wait for news of the release of ministerial list to the Senate for confirmation continues.

During his term in office in 2015, President Muhammadu Buhari waited for nearly six months to announce his cabinet members and this had a negative effect on the economy, which eventually slipped into recession some months later.

On May 29, 2019, Mr Buhari was sworn into office for a second term, having emerged winner of the keenly contested presidential election held in February.

Nearly two months after he officially commenced the second part of his 8-year rule as President of Nigeria and barely five months after he won the election, Mr Buhari is yet to announce those who will help him achieve his ‘next level’ campaign slogan. Last week, he was reported to have asked the Senate for more time to choose those he personally knows well into his cabinet.

As investors await his team, the stock market continues to bleed further as evident in the year-to-date loss yesterday, which extended to 9.83 percent.

Business Post reports that the All-Share Index (ASI) depreciated by 228.76 points to finish at 28,341.03 points, while the market capitalisation reduced by N110 billion to close at N13.812 trillion.

The negative sentiment on Monday was hugely impacted by the performance of 21 counters which declined during the day as against the 10 price gainers recorded at the session.

Total Nigeria topped the losers’ chart yesterday with a price depreciation of N10 to settle at N130 per unit. Dangote Cement, which followed, went down by N3 to finish at N170 per share.

GTBank lost 90 kobo to end at N29 per share, MTN Nigeria fell by 65 kobo to close at N129 per share, while Eterna declined by 25 kobo to settle at N3.40k per unit.

At the other end, Nestle Nigeria emerged the best performing stock at the market on Monday, appreciating by N33 to finish at N1228 per unit.

Nigerian Breweries gained 50 kobo to close at N58.50k per share, while Conoil increased its share value by 40 kobo to settle at N20.40k per share.

In addition, Vitafoam garnered 16 kobo to finish at N3.70k per unit, while Dangote Flour went up by 10 kobo to close at N17.50k per share.

At the market yesterday, investors transacted a total of 175.2 million shares worth N2.2 billion executed in 3,111 deals, with Waic Insurance emerging as the most traded with a total of 42 million units sold for N16.8 million.

UBA traded 24.2 million shares worth N142 million, GTBank sold 16 million equities valued at N478.8 million, LASACO Assurance exchanged 15.1 million shares for N4.7 million, while Transcorp transacted 14.6 million equities worth N15 million.

Economy

Unlisted Securities in Nigeria Gain 0.19%

Published

10 hours ago

30/01/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange appreciated by 0.19 per cent on Wednesday, January 29 after the share prices of stocks closed higher.

Okitipupa Plc gained N5.79 at midweek to close at N63.75 per unit compared with Tuesday’s value of N57.96 per unit, UBN Property Plc expanded by 18 Kono to trade at N2.02 per share versus the preceding day’s N1.84 per share, and Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc jumped by 2 Kobo to finish at 42 Kobo per unit, in contrast to 40 Kobo per unit.

At the close of business, the value of the bourse increased by N3.33 billion to N1.769 trillion from N1.766 trillion and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) went up by 20.05 points to 3,123.70 points from the 3,117.82 points quoted at the recent session.

During the trading day, Acorn Petroleum lost 14 Kobo to end at N1.40 per share versus N1.54 per share and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc depreciated by 29 Kobo to N39.68 per unit from N38.97 per unit.

The volume of securities bought and sold on Wednesday increased by 3,193.8 per cent to 14.9 million units from the 460,564 units posted a day earlier, the value of shares traded by investors also went up by 78.6 per cent to N30.1 million from N16.9 million, and the number of deals grew by 33.8 per cent to 28 deals from the 21 deals recorded in the preceding trading session.

The most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis remained Impresit Bakolori Plc with 406.5 million units worth N386.1 million, followed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 26.3 million units sold for N6.3 million, and Geo-Fluids Plc with 9.2 million units valued at N44.3 million.

Also, Impresit Bakolori Plc was the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 406.5 million units worth N386.1 million, followed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 4.3 million units valued at N170.4 million, and Geo-Fluids Plc with 9.1 million units sold for N44.3 million.

Economy

Value of Naira Now N1,510/$1 at Official Market, N1,620/$1 at Black Market

Published

10 hours ago

30/01/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The value of the Naira continued to firm against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) as it strengthened by N11.96 or 0.79 per cent on Wednesday to sell at N1,510.72/$1 compared with Tuesday’s closing rate of N1,522.68/1$.

The recent pressure on the market eased across majorly regulated channels with recent policy moves by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) creating more trading transparency and ethical practices.

Equally, in the official market, the local currency appreciated against the Pound Sterling yesterday by N27.81 to wrap the session at N1,871.77/£1 versus the preceding day’s N1,899.58/£1 and against the Euro, the Naira improved its value by N24.46 to trade at N1,568.58/€1, in contrast to the previous session’s N1,593.04/€1.

In the same vein, the Nigerian currency gained N20 against the greenback in the black market at midweek to quote at N1,620/$1 compared with the preceding day’s rate of N1,640/$1.

A look at the cryptocurrency market indicated that most of the tokens rose as the Federal Reserve kept its benchmark fed funds rate range steady at 4.25 per cent-4.50 per cent, in line with market expectations.

The US central bank said inflation remains “somewhat elevated and this initially dropped Bitcoin and other coins but rose as Chairman Jerome Powell gave his post-meeting press conference.

Litecoin (LTC) grew by 12.3 per cent to sell at $128.55, Bitcoin (BTC) jumped by 2.6 per cent to $105,190.69, Solana (SOL) increased by 2.5 per cent to $238.74, Cardano expanded by 1.8 per cent to trade at $0.9621, Ethereum (ETH) appreciated by 1.6 per cent to $3,190.50, Ripple (XRP) grew by 0.14 per cent to $3.12, and Dogecoin (DOGE) rose by 0.11 per cent to $0.332.

However, the price of Binance Coin (BNB) depreciated yesterday by 0.1 per cent to settle at $677.80, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.

Economy

Brent Slumps to $76 Per Barrel as US Crude Stockpiles Rise

Published

11 hours ago

30/01/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The price of the Brent crude grade depreciated by 91 cents or 1.2 per cent to $76.58 per barrel on Wednesday after domestic crude stockpiles in the United States rose in the last week.

Also, price of the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude grade slumped by $1.15 or 1.6 per cent to $72.62 per barrel as the US Energy Information Administration revealed that crude oil inventories in the country grew by 3.5 million barrels in the week ending January 24.

On Tuesday, the API issued its latest estimates on crude oil and crude oil products inventories, showing a rise of 2.86 million barrels for the week ending January 24.

Market analysts noted that near-term oil trade should remain bearish as investors digest the tariff threats, sanctions on Russian energy flows, and economic growth concerns in top consuming nations

The White House on Tuesday reaffirmed President Donald Trump’s plan to impose 25 per cent tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico from February 1.

Traders are also looking ahead to the ministerial meeting of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) scheduled for February 3, with the group’s plan to increase supply from April in focus.

President Trump called on OPEC+ to lower oil prices last week but the group has yet to respond, but Reuters reported that delegates said policy changes are unlikely at the February meeting.

For analysts at Standard Chartered, OPEC has limited power to end the Russia-Ukraine war immediately through a reduction in the oil price, with OPEC ministers likely viewing this strategy as very inefficient.

OPEC+ members are currently holding back 5.86 million barrels per day of production, or about 5.7 per cent of global demand, after making a series of cuts since 2022 to support the market.

The group plans to start raising production in April, following several delays due to weak demand.

Meanwhile, the US Federal Reserve held interest rates steady on Wednesday and the Chairman if the US central bank, Mr Jerome Powell, said there would be no rush to cut them again until inflation and jobs data made it appropriate.

On the supply front, Libya’s National Oil Corporation said export activity was running normally after it held talks with protesters who had demanded a halt to loadings at one of the country’s main oil ports.