By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange recorded its first loss of the week with a 1.29 per cent decline on Thursday, March 5.

This brought down the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 54.84 points to 4,256.41 points from 4,256.41 points, while the market capitalisation shed N32.82 billion to close at N2.546 trillion versus Wednesday’s N2.524 trillion.

The loss was due to the drop in the share prices of securities on the trading platform led by MRS Oil Plc, which lost N20.00 to trade at N210.00 per unit versus the previous session’s N230.00 per unit.

FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc dropped N4.35 to sell for N124.48 per share compared with Wednesday’s price of N128.83 per share, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc depreciated by N2.33 to N80.16 per unit from N82.59 per unit, Lagos Building Investment Company (LBIC) Plc shrank by 37 Kobo to N3.75 per share from N4.12 per share, and Food Concepts Plc declined by 33 Kobo to N3.06 per unit from N3.36 per unit.

Conversely, Newrest Asl Plc added N5.06 to sell at N55.59 per share versus N50.53 per share, and Geo-Fluids Plc grew by 12 Kobo to N3.30 per unit from N3.18 per unit.

During the session, the volume of securities jumped 43.4 per cent to 3.8 million units from 2.6 million units, the value of securities increased by 560.5 per cent to N423.3 million from N2.6 million, and the number of deals dipped 8.7 per cent to 42 deals from the preceding session’s 46 deals.

CSCS Plc remained the most traded stock by value (year-to-date) with 36.9 million units worth N2.3 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 6.3 million units traded for N1.1 billion, and MRS Oil Plc exchanged 3.4 million units for N506.6 million.

Resourcery Plc ended the day as the most traded stock by volume (year-to-date) with 1.05 billion units sold for N408.7 million, followed by Geo-Fluids Plc with 123.1 million units valued at N481.6 million, and CSCS Plc with 36.9 million units worth N2.3 billion.

By Dipo Olowookere

The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited managed to close higher by 0.18 per cent after an intense battle with the bears, which wanted to take control.

Data from the local stock exchange showed that investor sentiment was weak during the session after a negative market breadth index influenced by 38 depreciating stocks, which outnumbered the 32 appreciating stocks.

Eterna and NPF Microfinance Bank gained 10.00 per cent each to sell for N38.50 and N7.15 apiece. Premier Paints rose by 9.92 per cent to N13.30, Custodian Investment appreciated by 9.71 per cent to N76.80, and Fortis Global Insurance chalked up 9.68 per cent to trade at N1.36.

On the flip side, Tripple G lost 9.94 per cent to settle at N4.26, Multiverse declined by 9.91 per cent to quote at N20.45, Jaiz Bank decreased by 7.41 per cent to N10.00, Honeywell Flour went down by 7.11 per cent to N20.90, and Dangote Sugar crashed by 7.10 per cent to N69.40.

Customs Street witnessed a bit of profit-taking yesterday, with the insurance counter losing 1.63 per cent and the energy space declining by 0.16 per cent.

These losses were offset by the 0.51 per cent jump recorded by the banking index, the 0.10 per cent growth achieved by the consumer goods segment, and the 0.03 per cent rise posted by the industrial goods sector.

Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) grew by 343.93 points to 196,807.15 points from 196,463.22 points, and the market capitalisation gained N221 billion to settle at N126.318 trillion compared with the preceding session’s N126.097 trillion.

Trading data revealed that 634.0 million shares worth N29.1 billion exchanged hands in 66,286 deals on Thursday versus the 805.3 million shares valued at N38.4 billion traded in 71,312 deals on Wednesday, representing a fall in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 21.27 per cent, 24.22 per cent, and 7.05 per cent apiece.

Jaiz Bank topped the activity chart with 137.5 million equities sold for N1.4 billion, GTCO transacted 45.5 million shares worth N5.4 billion, Access Holdings exchanged 29.7 million stocks valued at N774.8 million, Sovereign Trust Insurance traded 27.1 million shares for N70.6 million, and Zenith Bank sold 24.3 million equities valued at N2.2 billion.

By Adedapo Adesanya

The value of the Nigerian Naira further depreciated against the United States Dollar in the black market segments of the currency market on Thursday by N15, closing at N1,405/$1 compared with the previous day’s value of N1,390/$1.

Information gathered by Business Post showed that the domestic currency was under pressure yesterday as a result of a renewed spike in the demand for the American currency as political activities gear up for next year’s general elections.

Also, at the GTBank forex counter, the local currency weakened against the greenback during the session by N13 to trade at N1,398/$1 compared with Wednesday’s closing price of N1,385/$1.

Similarly, the Naira lost 36 Kobo or 0.03 per cent against the Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Thursday to finish at N1,387.45/$1 versus the N1,387.09/$1 it was transacted at midweek.

However, it appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the same market window by N2.72 to N1,852.38/£1 from N1,855.10/£1 and gained N5.41 on the Euro to settle at N1,609.86/€1 versus N1,615.27/€1.

The successive depreciation of the Naira suggests foreign payments continue to grow faster than total US Dollar volume.

This may trigger intervention from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Nigeria is projected to be one of the beneficiaries of the current oil price windfall, following Brent crude trading above $85 per barrel, according to experts.

As for the cryptocurrency market, assets were in negative territory ahead of the key jobs report for February in the US, as traders rapidly cut bets on any more Federal Reserve rate cuts in the first half of 2026.

Some analysts noted that the US central bank will keep rates steady not only at this month’s meeting but in April as well.

Dogecoin (DOGE) went down by 5.4 per cent to $0.0928, Ethereum (ETH) dipped by 2.5 per cent to $2,080.46, Solana (SOL) depreciated by 2.4 per cent to $89.12, Cardano (ADA) also slumped 2.4 per cent to $0.2692, and Bitcoin (BTC) lost 2.1 per cent to sell for $71,229.83.

Further, Litecoin (LTC) declined by 1.9 per cent to close at $55.64, Ripple (XRP) shrank by 1.7 per cent to sell at $1.40, and Binance Coin (BNB) slipped 1.3 per cent to $648.77, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.