The equities market closed today on a negative note, as NSE ASI depreciated by 0.04% to close at 24,432.37basis points, compared with the 0.70% appreciation recorded previously. Its Year-to-Date (YTD) returns currently stands at -14.70%.
The market recorded 23 gainers today led by Seplat with a gain of N 15.52 to close at N318 followed by GlaxoSmithkline with a gain of N1.16 to close at N 25.33 while Guinness gained N 0.85 to close at N 118.85 per share.
On the other hand, Oando topped 19 stocks on the losers’ chart with N0.01 to close at N 3.47 followed by Skye Bank that lost N0.01 to close at N 1.07 per share, and Wema Bank that lost N0.02 to close at N 0.98 per share. Flour Mills improved by 60k to close at N19 and Lafarge Africa rose by 50k to close at N80.50 per share.
Altogether, a total of 3,452,903,681 shares worth N5,990,143,129 exchanged hands in 2,432deals.
Meanwhile, the naira on Monday firmed sharply on the parallel market following President Muhammadu Buhari’s defiant stance over the country’s currency.
President Buhari had on Saturday again rejected the idea of devaluing the West African nation’s currency, despite a hammering of the naira on the secondary market last week.
The naira appreciated to 375 against the dollar, as importers started to reduce demand for dollars after Buhari’s statement.
The naira firmed 4 percent from Friday’s close of 390 to the dollar, while the official interbank rate remained at 199.50 to the dollar at the close of trading on Monday.
Aminu Gwadabe, the head of Nigeria’s bureaux de change association said retail currency operators were working to introduce a single quote across the parallel market and maintain a bid-ask spread of 3.5 percent for trades.
“We have set up a unit to monitor compliance with the new measures,” he told Reuters, adding that the central bank has been informed of the measures,” he said.
It was gathered that the Association of Bureau De Change Operators of Nigeria (ABCON) would meet on Tuesday in Lagos to strategise on how the currency would bounce back.
President Muhammadu Buhari had on Feb. 20 insisted that the government would not devalue the Naira in spite of wide gap between the official and parallel markets.