By Dipo Olowookere

The dominance of the bears on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited was consolidated on Friday, after further inflicting an 0.12 per cent loss at the close of trading activity.

All the key sectors of the local stock market turned red yesterday as a result of sustained profit-taking, though the industrial goods space was flat.

The insurance counter lost 1.49 per cent, the energy index shed 0.63 per cent, the consumer goods segment declined by 0.46 per cent, and the banking sector tumbled by 0.23 per cent.

Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) retreated by 398.18 points to 242,619.20 points from 243,017.38 points, and the market capitalisation receded by N257 billion to N156.624 trillion from N156.881 trillion.

Fortis Global Insurance lost 9.31 per cent to trade at N2.63, Omatek depreciated by 9.04 per cent to N1.51, John Holt slipped by 9.00 per cent to N9.10, RT Briscoe slumped by 7.94 per cent to N11.60, and Dangote Sugar went down by 7.79 per cent to N64.55.

But International Energy Insurance gained 9.92 per cent to sell for N5.32, Trans-Nationwide Express appreciated by 9.65 per cent to N2.84, Guinea Insurance improved by 6.67 per cent to 80 Kobo, Regency Alliance grew by 6.25 per cent to 85 Kobo, and Japaul jumped by 5.36 per cent to N2.95.

The market breadth index remained negative, with 30 price losers and 21 price gainers, indicating weak investor sentiment.

The level of activity contracted yesterday, with the trading volume, value, and number of deals down by 66.67 per cent, 10.65 per cent, and 5.60 per cent, respectively.

This was because market participants transacted 1.4 billion shares worth N45.3 billion in 39,134 deals during the session compared with the 4.2 billion shares valued at n50.7 billion traded in 41,454 deals on Thursday.

Fortis Global Insurance was the most active equity for the day, with a turnover of 874.1 million units valued at N2.4 billion, Cornerstone Insurance sold 100.3 million units worth N506.5 million, Universal Insurance traded 56.7 million units for N44.5 million, Sterling Holdings exchanged 53.3 million units worth N402.9 million, and MTN Nigeria transacted 44.6 million units valued at N31.4 billion.

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira maintained stability against the United States Dollar in the different segments of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Friday, August 14, according to data obtained by Business Post.

At the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), the local currency remained unchanged at N1,357.65/$1, but lost N6.05 against the Pound Sterling to trade at N1,840.10 versus the previous session’s N1,834.05/£1, and depreciated against the Euro by N4.70 to sell for N1,571.70/€1 compared with the preceding day’s N1,567.00/€1.

At the black market, the Nigerian currency traded flat against the Dollar at N1,395/$1, but gained N3 at the GTBank forex desk to quote at N1,364/$1 versus Thursday’s exchange rate of N1,367/$1.

Data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) showed that interbank FX transactions surged by 51.2 per cent to $119.594 million from $79.097 million. These transactions were executed in 137 deals, higher than the 98 deals recorded a day earlier.

FX inflows from exporters, remittances and other sources, alongside demand from importers and individuals requiring Dollars, continue to shape market conditions.

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market recovered yesterday after experiencing a downturn in the previous sessions following reports that index provider MSCI has proposed new “non-operating company” screens for its Global Investable Market Indexes. Although the framework does not explicitly target cryptocurrency, it evaluates whether a company’s core operating assets constitute more than 50 per cent of its total holdings.

Heavy digital asset treasury adopters, including Strategy and Metaplanet, fail the proposed criteria and face potential removal during upcoming index rebalancings. While inclusion in major equity benchmarks previously allowed passive index funds and ETFs to automatically acquire these stocks, their removal could trigger forced institutional selling.

Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 0.7 per cent to $0.07, Binance Coin (BNB) expanded by 0.6 per cent to $611.34, Ethereum (ETH) added 0.4 per cent to trade at $1,879.65, and Bitcoin (BTC) increased by 0.2 per cent to $63,045.87, with Ripple (XRP), the US Dollar Tether (USDT), and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) flat at $1.00, respectively.

But Cardano (ADA) lost 1.2 per cent to trade at $0.1795, TRON (TRX) shed 0.4 per cent to finish at $0.3323, and Solana (SOL) declined by 0.2 per cent to $75.60.

By Adedapo Adesanya

Oil price climbed over $1 a ​barrel on Friday on tanker attacks and a lack of progress on a peace agreement between the President Donald Trump administration ‌and Iran’s leadership.

Brent futures settled at $88.52 a barrel after gaining $1.45 or 1.67 per cent, and the United States’ West Texas Intermediate crude futures finished at $82.40, up $1.15 or 1.42 per cent.

Market analysts noted that new attacks on ​tankers and lack of progress on a cease-fire agreement, which, in turn, is making traffic in the Strait of Hormuz constrained, adding pressure to the waterway through which 20 per cent ⁠of global supply can pass.

Two vessels from the state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company were attacked while transiting the strait on Thursday. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have previously threatened action against vessels transiting the strait if ​they are linked to its adversaries or fail to comply ​with ⁠Iranian directives.

As the US and Iran made ​claims over control of the strait, shipping traffic through the channel fell below the month’s average. Before US-Israeli attacks on Iran began in late ‌February, ⁠the strait handled about one-fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies.

The US said it could maintain ​a naval blockade of Iran indefinitely and increase economic pressure on Tehran in response to stalled ceasefire talks.

The country’s Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said there will be more announcements coming next week because “we are going to apply measures like have never been seen in the history of economic isolation of a ​country.”

Crude ​oil exports from Russia’s ⁠Sheskharis terminal at the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk were suspended on Friday following a drone attack, adding to disruptions at one of the ​country’s key export outlets.

The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) had slashed its outlook for 2026 global oil demand growth to 580,000 barrels per day, a stark contrast to the International Energy Agency’s 1.6 million barrels per day decline, marking the fourth straight month when the Vienna-based organisation was forced to curb its forecast amidst the Hormuz crisis.

In its monthly report, the IEA predicted that global supply will fall by 4.3 million barrels per day in 2026, pushing the Q3 deficit to 1.8 million barrels per day even as record fuel prices lead to an unprecedented 1.6 million barrels per day demand destruction.