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In the final trading session of the week, the Naira showed no sign of easing as it dropped again, this time by 0.66 per cent or N5.04 against the US Dollar at the Investors and Exporters (I&E) wing of the foreign exchange (forex) market to sell at N770.17/$1 compared with the previous day’s value of N765.13/$1.

Data showed that the FX turnover for the trading session moderated by 38.7 per cent or $79.37 million to $125.47 million from the $204.84 million recorded on Thursday.

Also, in the black market, the local currency depreciated against its American counterpart by N2 to quote at N767/$1, in contrast to the previous day’s rate of N765/$1.

However, the domestic currency further appreciated against the greenback in the Peer-2-Peer (P2P) window yesterday by N4 to close at N780/$1, in contrast to the N784/$1 it was transacted a day earlier.

The Naira firmed by N50.52 against the Pound Sterling in the official market on Friday to sell at N960.19/£1 compared with Thursday’s exchange rate of N909.67/£ and gained N43.48 against the Euro to end the day at N825.77/€1 versus N782.29/€1.

The cryptocurrency market recorded a recovery yesterday fueled by institutions’ commitment to layering crypto into their businesses, as investors have been upbeat since BlackRock, the largest asset manager in the world, filed an application for the first spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund in the US on Thursday.

Bitcoin (BTC) improved its value by 2.4 per cent to $30,046.86, Ethereum (ETH) gained 0.6 per cent to sell at $1,895.54, Litecoin (LTC) appreciated by 6.8 per cent to $91.67, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 3.5 per cent to $0.0683, and Solana (SOL) recorded a 2.8 per cent jump to trade at $17.23.

Further, Cardano (ADA) saw its value rise by 1.6 per cent to $0.2976, Binance Coin (BNB) went up by 1.2 per cent to trade at $245.68, and Ripple (XRP) rose 0.3 per cent to trade at $0.4977, while Binance USD (BUSD) and the US Dollar Tether (USDT) traded flat at $1.00 apiece.

The trio of Universal Insurance Plc, United Bank for Africa Plc, and Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) Plc topped the activity chart of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited last week, selling 865.658 million shares worth N12.138 billion in 4,786 deals.

They accounted for 25.70 per cent and 28.91 per cent of the 3.369 billion shares worth N41.986 billion traded in the week in 39,764 deals.

The total trading turnover for the week under consideration was lower than the 4.276 billion shares valued at N62.176 billion transacted in the preceding week in 44,344 deals.

Further analysis showed that financial stocks accounted for 2.515 billion units worth N23.030 billion in 19,895 deals, contributing 83.86 per cent and 66.06 per cent to the total trading volume and value, respectively.

Equities in the energy sector followed with 162.226 million units worth N4.174 billion in 2,953 deals, while shares in the conglomerates industry posted a turnover of 148.138 million units valued at N530.633 million in 1,962 deals.

The price movement table had 62 price gainers and 35 price losers, as 59 equities remained unchanged. In the preceding week, the price gainers’ log had 77 members, and the price losers’ had 24 members, as 55 stocks closed flat.

SAHCO gained 44.53 per cent in five days to close at N9.25, FTN Cocoa grew by 40.74 per cent to N1.90, Chams improved by 35.71 per cent to 57 Kobo, Japaul expanded by 32.65 per cent to 65 Kobo, and Golden Guinea Breweries appreciated by 31.13 per cent to N1.39.

On the flip side, Jaiz Bank lost 18.97 per cent to trade at N1.41, Secure Electronic Technology fell by 17.39 per cent to 38 Kobo, C&I Leasing depreciated by 13.78 per cent to N3.88, Sterling Holdings shed 12.88 per cent N2.57, and Ikeja Hotel shrank by 11.76 per cent to N3.00.

The All-Share Index (ASI) and the market capitalisation increased last week by 0.34 per cent to at 59,206.63 points and N32.237 trillion, respectively.

Similarly, all other indices finished higher except NGX Lotus II, which depreciated by 1.26 per cent, as ASeM index closed flat.

Traders of unlisted stocks in Nigeria gained about N12.34 billion on the floor of the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange last week, the 25th trading week of 2023.

This was because the alternative bourse appreciated by 1.36 per cent on a week-on-week basis as the demand for stocks on the platform increased.

Consequently, the market capitalisation of the trading platform increased to N1.038 trillion from the N1.026 trillion it closed in the preceding week, as the NASD Unlisted Securities Index (NSI) went up by 10.08 points to wrap the week at 750.82 points compared with 740.74 points recorded at the previous week.

In the week, there was a 1,833.8 per cent surge in the total value of transactions to N1.5 billion from N80.2 million, the volume of trades similarly jumped by 86.9 per cent to 25.2 million units from 13.5 million units in the previous week, and the number of deals decreased by 15.8 per cent to 96 trades from the 114 trades posted a week earlier.

Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc, UBN Property Plc, and Purple Real Estate were the price gainers of the week, while Niger Delta Exploration and Production (NDEP) Plc and Afriland Properties Plc were the price losers.

CSCS Plc gained 15.3 per cent to sell at N18.10 per unit compared with the earlier week’s value of N15.70 per unit, FrieslandCampina Wamco Plc appreciated by 1.4 per cent to N70.96 per share from N70.00 per share, UBN Properties Plc improved by 3.3 per cent to 95 Kobo per share from 92 Kobo per share, and Purple Real Estate Plc rose by 0.2 per cent to N5.21 per unit from N5.20 per unit.

On the flip side, NDEP Plc dropped 0.3 per cent to quote at N250.12 per share versus N250.83 per share, and Afriland Properties Plc depleted by 0.4 per cent to close at N2.62 per unit versus N2.63 per unit.

At the close of the week, VFD Group Plc was the most traded stock by value with N1.4 billion, NDEP Plc followed with N125.4 million, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc posted N24.7 million, Purple Real Estate Plc recorded N12.5 million, and UBN Property Plc sold N11.9 million.

UBN Property Plc finished the week as the most traded security by volume with 12.5 million units, VFD Group Plc traded 6.1 million units, Purple Real Estate Plc exchanged 2.4 million units, Geo-Fluid Plc transacted 2.00 million units, and CSCS Plc traded 670,000 units.

In the year so far, NASD investors have traded 1.77 billion units of securities worth N7.39 billion in 1,658 deals.

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange depreciated by 0.20 per cent on Tuesday, May 23, after the share price of a market bellwether, FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc, depreciated at the close of business.

The milk producer closed the session at N65.00 per unit compared with the previous day’s value of N66.00 per unit, indicating a decline of N1.00 yesterday.

As a result, N1.96 billion was chopped off the market capitalisation of the NASD OTC exchange on Tuesday, as it ended the session at N988.50 billion compared with Monday’s closing value of N990.46 billion.

Similarly, the NASD Unlisted Securities Index (NSI) decreased when trading activities were ended by 1.42 points to 714.61 points from the 716.03 points recorded in the previous session.

During the trading day, the volume of securities traded at the bourse moved up by 36.0 per cent, as the market participants transacted 136,573 units of stocks compared with the 100,394 units of securities traded in the preceding session.

In the same vein, the value of shares traded by investors yesterday went up by 1,548.4 per cent to N9.9 million from N604,087.34, as the number of deals executed increased by 54.5 per cent to 17 deals from the 11 deals carried out a day earlier.

Geo-Fluids Plc remained the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date with a turnover of 831.9 million units valued at N1.3 billion, Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc stood in second place with 627.7 units valued at N49.4 million, while UBN Property Plc was in third place with 390.9 million units worth N332.0 million.

Also, VFD Group Plc retained its spot on top of the chart as the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with the sale of 10.6 million units worth N2.4 billion, Geo-Fluids Plc followed with 831.9 million units valued at N1.3 billion, while FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc was in third place with 12.4 million units valued at N871.1 million.