Economy
Traders Maintain Preference for Financial Stocks on NSE
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The preference for financial stocks over equities of other sectors on the floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) by investors continued last week.
During the week, shares in the financial services sector dominated the activity chart by contributing 53.51 percent and 51.73 percent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively. A total of 1.1 billion shares valued at N13.7 billion traded in 13,739 deals were transacted in the sector.
According to data harvested from the NSE over the weekend, securities in the healthcare industry followed with 521.9 million units valued at N183.0 million in 420 deals, while stocks in the conglomerates industry exchanged 123.6 million units worth N573.9 million in 1,164 deals.
A further breakdown showed that Union Diagnostic & Clinical Services, Access Bank and Zenith Bank accounted for 878.0 million shares worth N8.4 billion in 5,251 deals, contributing 42.06 percent and 31.73 percent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
At the close of business for the week, traders transacted a total of 2.1 billion shares worth N26.5 billion in 24,262 deals compared with the 2.7 billion equities valued at N32.7 billion exchanged in 30,956 deals the previous week.
Despite the activity level going down, the All-Share Index (ASI) and market capitalisation recorded weekly gains, growing by 0.69 percent and 0.54 percent respectively to close at 29,618.52 points and N15.256 trillion apiece.
Business Post reports that all other indices finished lower with the exception of NSE 30, NSE CG, NSE Premium, NSE Banking, NSE AFRI Bank Value, NSE MERI Value and NSE Oil/Gas index, which appreciated by 0.66 percent, 0.64 percent, 3.85 percent, 2.30 percent, 2.67 percent, 1.74 percent and 0.57 percent respectively while NSE ASeM index closed flat.
A total of 21 equities appreciated in price during the week, lower than 51 equities in the previous week, while 42 equities depreciated in price, higher than 20 equities in the previous week, with 100 equities remaining unchanged, higher than 92 equities recorded in the preceding week.
Forte Oil led the gainers’ chart with a price appreciation of 21.89 percent to settle at N20.60 per share, while Beta Glass rose by 18.77 percent to finsh at N63.90 per share, with GlaxoSmithKline rising by 13.21 percent to end at N6 per share.
On the decliners’ table, Consolidated Hallmark Insurance claimed the top spot as its share price dropped 14.29 percent to close at 36 kobo per share, NEM Insurance depleted by 13.66 percent to close at N1.96 per share, while BUA Cement depreciated by 12.20 percent to close at N36 per share.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Brent crude rose by 3.83 per cent or $3.04 to $82.29 per barrel on Thursday after an information that an Iranian parliament committee was reviewing a bill that would ban US and Israeli vessels from the Strait of Hormuz.
Also, the price of the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures went up by 81 cents or 1.05 per cent to $77.29 per barrel during the session.
Under the apparent draft, Iran would ban American and Israeli ships from transiting the strait. Other nations that have harmed Iran would not be allowed to transit until compensation is paid, according to the draft. Iran would impose penalties on violators equivalent to 20 per cent of the value of cargo aboard a ship.
Market analysts noted that crude traders remain focused on the US-Iran agreements, and the longer the delays, the more prices will fade back to the upside.
Iran has warned Gulf states that any new US attack on its territory would trigger attacks on critical energy infrastructure across the region.
Before the Iran conflict began in late February, about one-fifth of global daily oil and liquefied natural gas supplies flowed through the Strait of Hormuz.
Meanwhile, Yemen’s Houthis said they carried out missile and drone attacks on “Saudi deployments” in Marib and Hadramout in Yemen on Thursday. This has led to elimination of Saudi-aligned fighters as well as destruction of military camps, weapons depots and vehicles.’
Also, Iran and Oman appear to be close to agreeing on joint management of the Strait of Hormuz with Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman, Esmaeil Baghaei, saying the deal with Oman was “in the final stages.”
Saudi Arabia has slightly lowered the official selling price for its flagship Arab Light crude oil to Asia in September.
Elsewhere, a major oil refinery in Russia’s Yaroslavl region was on fire after a big Ukrainian drone attack. The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the country’s military had hit two Russian oil refineries – the Bashneft-Novoil refinery in the republic of Bashkortostan, and the Slavneft-Yanos refinery in the Yaroslavl region.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange closed flat on Wednesday, August 5, as the market witnessed weaker trading activity with only two deals executed.
In the midweek session, the volume of securities exchanged by investors dropped 99.9 per cent to 802 units from the 1.6 million units recorded on Tuesday. The value of securities further decreased by 99.6 per cent to N208,240 from the preceding session’s N47.6 million, and the number of deals significantly went down by 93.9 per cent to two deals from the 33 deals recorded a day earlier.
Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc with 76.9 million units transacted for N5.5 billion.
GNI Plc was also the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units exchanged 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 valued at N415.7 million.
There were no price gainers or losers yesterday.
As a result, the market capitalisation stood unmoving at N2.739 trillion, while the NASD Security Index (NSI) remained unchanged at 4,563.96 points.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira slid against the US Dollar by N2.28 or 0.17 per cent in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Wednesday, August 5, to N1,363.85/$1 from N1,362.55/$1.
The local currency also declined against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N5.97 to close at N1,837.38/£1 compared with Tuesday’s closing rate of N1,831.41/£1, and against the Euro, it crashed by N6.54 to quote at N1,575.25/€1 versus the preceding session’s N1,568.71/€1.
But at the black market, the Nigerian Naira traded flat against the greenback yesterday at N1,400/$1, and also remained unchanged at the GTBank FX desk at N1,373/$1.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) says rates have narrowed to below two per cent, while the country’s external reserves have risen above $52.5 billion, reflecting the impact of its ongoing monetary and foreign exchange reforms.
CBN Governor Yemi Cardoso, represented by the Acting Director of Corporate Communications and Investor Relations, Mrs Hakama Sidi-Ali, disclosed this on Tuesday during the CBN Fair in Gombe. He noted that reforms introduced since 2023 had significantly reduced the disparity between the official FX market and the parallel market.
“The Naira continues to strengthen, with the spread between official and Bureau de Change rates now below two per cent,” he said, adding that reserves at $52.5 billion were supported by sustained inflows and renewed investor confidence in the economy.
Interbank FX transactions slid as weaker market activities dropped total Dollar volume exchanged to $75.35 million, a 51.8 per cent decline from $156.23 million in turnover quoted at the previous close.
The deals at the NFEM window also fell as data from the central bank put Wednesday’s quote at 82 from 139.
In the cryptocurrency market, major were down as global risk sentiment softened as a key world equity index slipped and chipmakers fell.
The MSCI All Country World Index snapped a five-day run to fall 0.2 per cent as chipmakers retreated on both sides of the Pacific. South Korea’s Kospi, a bellwether for the AI trade, dropped 4.4 per cent.
Ripple (XRP) depleted by 1.7 per cent to $1.05, Binance Coin (BNB) decreased by 1.0 per cent to $594.87, Cardano (ADA) depreciated by 0.9 per cent to $0.1884, TRON (TRX) shrank by 0.2 per cent to $0.3261, Solana (SOL) crumbled by 0.1 per cent to $74.00, and Dogecoin (DOGE) went down by 0.1 per cent to $0.0697.
On the flip side, Ethereum (ETH) gained 2.3 per cent to trade at $1,911.41, and Bitcoin (BTC) rose by 0.8 per cent to $64,759.28, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.
