Economy
Zichis Gains 39.62% in One Week, Now Sells N21.78 Per Share
By Dipo Olowookere
Zichis Agro-Allied Industries Plc continued its upward movement on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited last week, emerging as the best-performing stock after chalking up 39.62 per cent to trade at N21.78 per share.
The company’s stock has shown no signs of slowing down despite a downward price adjustment it suffered a week ago after an investigation into its price movement.
Zichis joined the local bourse in January 2026 at a unit price of N1.81, but within a month, its share price rose to N17.36 per unit, indicating an 859.12 per cent surge.
After a look into its rise in value, its price was trimmed to N8.58 per unit after the NGX Regulation lifted a suspension on trading on its shares on March 23, 2026.
Last week, which had four trading sessions, Zichis led the price gainers’ chart of 52 equities versus 46 equities of the previous week. Fifty-three shares depreciated versus 53 shares of the preceding week, and 41 stocks closed flat versus 47 stocks recorded a week earlier.
Trailing Zichis on the gainers’ table was The Initiates, which appreciated by 33.04 per cent to N30.60, UAC Nigeria expanded by 27.82 per cent to N181.50, BUA Cement solidified by 24.78 per cent to N408.00, and CAP grew by 22.53 per cent to M145.20.
On the flip side, UBA slumped by 22.27 per cent to N42.75, Royal Exchange shrank by 20.00 per cent to N1.36, Trans-Nationwide Express depleted by 18.99 per cent to N6.40, Deap Capital went down by 14.49 per cent to N4.19, and First Holdco slipped by 13.80 per cent to N64.65.
In the week, the All-Share Index (ASI) and the market capitalisation soared by 7.33 per cent each to 242,277.81 points and N155.994 trillion, respectively.
Also, all other indices finished higher except CG, banking, insurance, AFR Bank Value, MERI Value and sovereign bond indices, which lost 0.80 per cent, 5.52 per cent, 1.13 per cent, 5.80 per cent, 3.31 per cent and 0.26 per cent, respectively
Business Post reports that a total of 4.842 billion shares worth N287.756 billion exchanged hands in 332,453 deals last week compared with the 3.805 billion shares valued at N213.955 billion traded in 297,202 deals a week earlier.
The financial services industry led the activity chart with 3.755 billion units worth N124.398 billion in 146,938 deals, contributing 77.56 per cent and 43.23 per cent to the total trading volume and value, respectively.
The consumer goods sector transacted 177.009 million units worth N30.853 billion in 36,609 deals, and the third place was the services industry with a turnover of 176.809 million units worth N4.387 billion in 15,310 deals.
Access Holdings, UBA, and Wema Bank led the activity chart with 2.026 billion equities worth N60.036 billion in 39,925 deals, contributing 41.85 per cent and 20.86 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value, respectively.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange was plunged into the danger zone by 1.40 per cent on Thursday, July 23, by five securities on the platform.
Leading the pack was Okitipupa Plc, which crashed by N20.20 to trade at N248.00 per share compared with the previous day’s N268.20 per share. MRS Oil Plc tumbled by N15.00 to close at N135.00 per unit versus the preceding session’s N150.00 per unit, Nipco Plc weakened by N7.00 to N415.00 per share from N422.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc lost N3.92 to settle at N143.63 per unit compared with midweek’s N147.55 per unit, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc declined by N3.05 to quote at N95.27 per share versus N98.32 per share.
These losses contracted the value of the unlisted securities exchange by N36.77 billion to N2.594 trillion from N2.631 trillion, and decreased the NASD Security Index (NSI) by 61.26 points to 4,322.22 points from 4,383.48 points.
Business Post reports that there were two price gainers yesterday at the market, but they could not salvage the situation. NASD Plc grew by N1.36 to N37.36 per unit from N36.00 per unit, and Afriland Properties Plc gained N1.09 to end at N16.85 per share versus the previous session’s N15.76 per share.
As for the activity chart, the volume of trades crashed by 96.7 per cent to 377,635 units from 1.4 million units, the value of transactions slumped by 6.3 per cent to N40.4 million from N43.1 million, and the number of deals moderated by 20.4 per cent to 39 deals from 49 deals.
At the close of business, the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis remained Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc, with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units worth N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 75.5 million units traded for N5.4 billion.
GNI Plc also ended the session as the most traded 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 valued at N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units transacted for N415.7 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira appreciated for the seventh straight session against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) by 0.14 per cent or N1.87 on Thursday, July 23, to trade at N1,367.76/$1, in contrast to the previous day’s N1,369.63/$1.
The Nigerian currency also improved its value against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N8.67 to close at N1,824.45/£1, in contrast to the preceding day’s N1,833.12/£1, and against the Euro, it gained N6.25 to sell at N1,556.78/€1 compared with the midweek session’s N1,563.03/€1.
Similarly, the Naira gained N5 against the US Dollar in the parallel market yesterday to settle at N1,395/$1 versus Wednesday’s closing rate of N1,400/$1, and at the GTBank forex counter, it strengthened by N4 to quote at N1,379/$1 compared with the previous session’s N1,383/$1.
The positive outcome for the Naira comes amid a decline in FX turnover at the Nigerian foreign exchange market by 24 per cent to $1.163 billion from the $1.532 billion recorded a day earlier.
Meanwhile, the number of deals cut across the window by a slew of financial institutions in the country acting as market makers surged to 417 from 313 reported the previous day.
However, traders project that the local currency may weaken soon, largely due to foreign-currency buying from fuel importers.
Dangote Refinery, which distributes the majority of the country’s petrol supply, resumed the sale of petrol in Naira after it announced last week that it would start selling petroleum products to marketers in Dollars.
Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was down, as $800 billion evaporated from the biggest US technology stocks, regarded as a rare stretch of independence for an asset that has tracked the AI trade all month.
Market analysts noted concerns that Big Tech is spending on artificial-intelligence infrastructure faster than profits can justify, with Dogecoin (DOGE) down by 4.4 per cent to $0.0693.
Further, Cardano (ADA) also dropped 4.4 per cent to $0.1668, Ethereum (ETH) depreciated by 2.2 per cent to $1,883.48, Solana (SOL) dipped by 2.1 per cent to $75.85, Ripple (XRP) crashed by 2.0 per cent to $1.11, Bitcoin slipped by 0.4 per cent to $65,415.27, and Binance Coin (BNB) tumbled by 0.3 per cent to $568.41.
But TRON (TRX) gained 0.3 per cent to end at $0.3287, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.
By Dipo Olowookere
Lower trading activity could not tie down Nigerian stocks on Thursday, as they rebounded by 0.98 per cent after the previous day’s loss caused by profit-taking.
The growth recorded by the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited yesterday was driven by interest in Guinness Nigeria, First Holdco and others.
Guinness Nigeria and Zichis gained 10.00 per cent each to sell for N365.20 and N26.95, respectively, Access Holdings appreciated by 9.98 per cent to N29.20, First Holdco jumped by 9.91 per cent to N120.90, and UPDC REIT soared by 9.38 per cent to N14.00.
Conversely, Mecure lost 9.96 per cent to trade at N62.40, FTN Cocoa depreciated by 9.16 per cent to N8.63, Omatek slumped by 7.89 per cent to N1.75, Africa Prudential crashed by 4.44 per cent to N12.90, and Cornerstone Insurance fell by 4.35 per cent to N5.50.
A total of 36 stocks appreciated during the session, while 28 stocks depreciated, indicating a positive market breadth index and strong investor sentiment.
Customs Street experienced lower trading activity during the trading day, with market participants transacting 782.4 million equities for N56.3 billion in 46,273 deals, in contrast to the 1.3 billion equities worth N118.2 billion traded in 47,458 deals on Wednesday, representing a drop in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 39.82 per cent, 52.37 per cent, and 2.50 per cent, respectively.
Bargain-hunting was seen across the key segments of the bourse, with the banking index up by 3.92 per cent. The industrial goods space rose by 1.27 per cent, the insurance sector appreciated by 0.75 per cent, the consumer goods counter improved by 0.63 per cent, and the energy segment grew by 0.04 per cent.
When the closing gong was struck to announce the end of trading activities for the day, the All-Share Index (ASI) advanced by 2,413.03 points to 247,831.40 points from 245,418.37 points, and the market capitalisation added N1.575 trillion to close at N159.894 trillion compared with the previous day’s N158.319 trillion.
