Economy
Stocks Sustain Free Fall as Pressure Mounts on NSE
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Market sentiments remained weak on Wednesday as pressure continued to mount on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE).
Stock market analysts believed news of an alleged attempt by the Senate to install the Senate President, Mr Bukola Saraki, as the Acting President yesterday sent a wrong signal to investors, who held back to observe latest political happenings in the country, especially with the absence of President Muhammadu Buhari in nearly two months now.
Nigerians have continued to react to the development, with many heavily criticising the upper legislative chamber of the National Assembly for the alleged attempt, which was quickly foiled by Mr Saraki on Tuesday.
At the resumption of trading activities on the floor of the NSE on Wednesday, the bearish trend was maintained, leaving the market to decline further by 0.33 percent.
The All-Share Index (ASI) depreciated today by 107.88 points to settle at 32,302.32 points, while the market capitalisation depleted by N36.7 billion to finish at N11.13 trillion.
Furthermore, the market breadth still remained negative today with 33 decliners in contrast to 12 advancers.
In addition, the year-to-date return trimmed further to 20.20 percent.
Business Post however reports that the volume and value of shares transacted at the market today finished higher.
A total of 312 million shares exchanged hands on Wednesday in 4,312 deals worth N3 billion, versus 206.2 shares traded yesterday in 4,294 deals valued at N1.7 billion.
Niger Insurance was the most active stock on Wednesday, trading a total of 62.9 million shares valued at N31.5 million.
First Bank followed with a total of 30.5 million units traded at N183.7 million, while Transcorp sold 30.2 million shares worth N38.8 million.
Zenith Bank exchanged a total of 28.5 million shares today valued at N575 million, and UBA transacted 24 million units worth N197.7 million.
On the price movement chart, Flour Mills led the losers’ table after dropping N2.49k to close at N23.14k per share, and was trailed by Unilever, which shed N1.84k to end at N35.3k per share.
Julius Berger lost N1.69k to finish at N32.14k per share, Guinness declined by N1.54k to settle at N63 per share, while PZ Cussons depreciated by N1.21k to close at N23.14k per share.
The gainers’ chart was led today by Nestle, which grew by 50k to finish at N901.50k per share, and was followed by Berger Paints, which advanced by 31k to end at N7.15k per share.
Nigerian Breweries added 30k to its share value on Wednesday to close at N158.35k per share, UBA gained 18k to settle at N8.38k per share, and First Bank increased by 14k to wrap the day at N6.5k per share.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) is seeking a reduction in import duty exemptions, which rose to N34 trillion, limiting its ability to increase its revenue generation threshold.
The Comptroller-General of the Customs Service, Mr Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed that the value of import duty exemption certificate approvals increased to that level in 2025, describing the policy as one of the major factors restricting its revenue generation.
At an investigative session of the Senate Committee on Finance with revenue-generating agencies in Abuja on Monday, Mr Adeniyi explained that government fiscal policies have continued to impact the revenue-generating capacity of the Customs Service, both positively and negatively.
“The NCS would have generated significantly higher revenue over the years if not for government-approved import duty waivers and other external factors affecting collections,” he said.
He added that the Import Duty Exemption Certificate scheme, introduced in March 2020, accounted for about N34 trillion in approvals in 2025, with nearly 60 per cent covering duty-free importation of military hardware due to Nigeria’s prevailing security challenges.
Other government-backed duty waivers, he noted, covered the importation of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), electric and hybrid vehicles, healthcare equipment and medical supplies, industrial machinery and manufacturing inputs, as well as food import intervention programmes.
While acknowledging the impact of the waivers on Customs revenue, Mr Adeniyi argued that fiscal policy should not be assessed solely on the basis of revenue generation but also on its broader economic and social objectives.
He, however, urged the federal government to establish stronger monitoring mechanisms to ensure beneficiaries of duty waivers deliver the intended economic outcomes, including lower consumer prices, increased local production and improved healthcare access.
The committee also expressed displeasure over the absence of several heads of government agencies invited to the hearing, including the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Industrial Training Fund (ITF), and the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Jabi.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Mr Sani Musa, warned that the affected chief executives must appear at the committee’s next sitting or face severe sanctions under the Senate’s rules.
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By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange rose by 0.40 per cent on Monday, July 13, buoyed by buying interest in 11 Plc, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc and UBN Property Plc, which offset the profit-taking in Food Concepts Plc, the parent company of Chicken Republic.
11 Plc gained N20.69 to end at N227.64 per share compared with last Friday’s price of N206.95 per share, CSCS Plc grew by N1.83 to N91.48 per unit from N89.65 per unit, and UBN Property Plc added 1 Kobo to sell at N1.81 per share versus N1.80 per share.
On the flip side, Food Concepts Plc depreciated by 24 Kobo to close at N2.45 per unit, in contrast to the preceding session’s N2.69 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation increased by N9.2 billion to N2.587 trillion from N2.578 trillion, and the NASD Security Index (NSI) improved by 15.33 points to 4,311.67 points from 4,296.34 points.
Yesterday, the volume of securities traded by investors surged by 615.9 per cent to 9.1 million units from the previous 1.3 million units, and the value of securities rose by 997.1 per cent to N320.4 million from the preceding session’s N29.2 million, while the number of deals decreased by 12.5 per cent to 28 deals from last Friday’s 32 deals.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most active 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 worth N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 73.9 million units exchanged for N5.2 billion.
GNI Plc also closed the session as 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 traded for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million.
