Economy
Value of NASD OTC Exchange Rises to N655.45bn in Week 28
By Adedapo Adesanya
The total value of the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange surged N655.45 billion in Week 28 of the year from N529.12 billion in Week 27.
In the week, the market capitalisation of the NASD OTC Exchange actually rose by N6.16 billion but the inclusion of the Nigerian Exchange Group Plc, 11 Plc and Capital Bancorp Plc on Wednesday, July 14, 2021, with N120.17 billion caused the significant surge.
Also, the NASD OTC Security Exchange Index (NSI) increased by 1.3 per cent or 9.72 points to close the week at 754.11 points as against 744.39 points of the preceding week.
Business Post reports seven securities appreciated in price during the week with Newrest ASL Nigeria Plc rising by 10.00 per cent to settle at N11.00 per share compared with the previous N10.00 per share.
Afriland Properties Plc gained 8.00 per cent to finish at N1.35 per unit versus the previous N1.25 per unit, Central Securities and Clearing System (CSCS) Plc rose by 7.10 per cent to end at N18.20 per share in contrast to N16.99 per share it closed a week earlier, while 11 Plc appreciated by 6.9 per cent to trade at N230.00 per unit compared with N215.00 per unit of the earlier week.
Also, Food Concepts Plc improved by 5.0 per cent to sell for 84 kobo per share as against the preceding week’s 80 kobo per share, VFD Group Plc gained 2.4 per cent to trade at N361.82 per unit compared with the previous week’s rate of N353.31 per unit, while Friesland Campina WAMCO Nigeria Plc went up by 0.5 per cent to N120.63 per share in contrast to N120 per share of the previous week.
In the week, the market witnessed three price decliners led by UBN Property Plc, which lost 6.8 per cent to sell for N1.10 per unit compared with the previous N1.18.
Niger Delta Exploration & Production Plc (NDEP) Plc went down by 3.6 per cent to N270.50 per share from N280.50 per share, while NGX Group declined by 3.2 per cent to N17.48 per unit from N18.06 per share.
Last week, there was a 46.2 per cent increase in the total volume of shares traded by investors as 28.7 million stocks exchanged hands compared with the previous week’s 19.6 million stocks.
In the same vein, the value of stocks increased by 246.4 per cent to N1.5 billion from N439.7 million, while the number of deals rose by 2.9 per cent to 175 trades from 170 deals.
At the close of the week, NGX Group was the most traded security by volume with 23.3 million units. VFD Group Plc traded 2.9 million units, UBN Property Plc exchanged 1,6 million units, Friesland Plc transacted 501,862 units, while CSCS Plc traded 149,850 units.
In terms of the value, VFD Group Plc topped with N1.0 billion, NGX Group traded N407.1 million, Friesland Plc recorded N60.3 million, NDEP Plc posted N6.6 million, while CSCS Plc expended N2.8 million.
In the year so far, NSI’s year-to-date gain stood at 1.7 per cent, with investors trading 1,518,525,762 units worth N11.9 billion in 3,077 deals.
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.
By Dipo Olowookere
The domestic stock exchange rebounded by 0.05 per cent on Wednesday on the back of renewed bargain-hunting by investors, though the level of activity waned.
After bleeding for a few days, the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited heaved a sigh of relief yesterday, as the All-Share Index (ASI) gained 109.41 points to close at 244,912.24 points compared with the previous day’s 244,802.83 points, and the market capitalisation garnered N71 billion to settle at N158.087 trillion versus Tuesday’s N158.016 trillion.
Business Post reports that despite the rebound recorded by Customs Street at midweek, the market breadth index remained negative, as there were 20 price advancers and 29 price decliners, implying bearish investor sentiment.
Linkage Assurance appreciated by 9.94 per cent to N1.77, AVA Capital rose by 9.55 per cent to N10.90, Fortis Global Insurance advanced by 7.69 per cent to N2.80, McNichols gained 7.34 per cent to finish at N5.85, and Coronation Insurance surged by 5.51 per cent to N2.49.
Conversely, Honeywell Flour depreciated by 9.94 per cent to N16.30, PZ Cussons gave up 9.94 per cent to trade at N74.75, Zichis crashed by 9.74 per cent to N20.76, Learn Africa slipped by 9.62 per cent to N9.40, and Neimeth tumbled by 8.33 per cent to N8.25.
The busiest equity was FCMB, with a turnover of 369.2 million units valued at N4.1 billion. Chams transacted 46.7 million units worth N201.8 million, First Holdco transacted 43.5 million units for N5.7 billion, Access Holdings sold 29.8 million units worth N778.0 million, and Linkage Assurance exchanged 19.6 million units valued at N33.5 million.
At the close of transactions, market participants bought and sold 824.1 million units worth N25.5 billion in 48,114 deals, in contrast to the 1.6 billion units sold for N28.7 billion in 54,160 deals a day earlier, showing a shortfall in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 48.49 per cent, 11.15 per cent, and 11.16 per cent, respectively.
