CAPITAL MARKET
Financial stocks dominate deals on Nigerian exchange
The financial services industry (measured by volume) dominated the activity chart of the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), last week, with 687.623 million shares valued at N5.659 billion recorded in 9,506 deals. This volume of shares traded in the financial sector contributed 66.29 per cent to the total turnover while the conglomerate industry followed with 106.138 million shares worth N545.020 million in 1,146 deals. The third place was the Information Communication Technology industry, with a turnover of 84.310 million shares worth N350.698 million in 604 deals. The Guardian
FX Spot, Forwards, Futures Markets Record $1.252bn Turnover
The foreign exchange (FX) Spot, Forwards and Futures markets on the FMDQ Securities Exchange recorded a total turnover of $1,250.97 million for the week ended May 28, 2021. This represented an increase of 0.72 per cent ($8.97 million) from the $1,242.00 million reported the previous week. The week-on-week increase in turnover, according to the exchange was driven by the 57.35 per cent ($128.13 million) increase in FX Derivatives turnover. Punch
BANKING
Zenith, UBA Lead as Banks Lend N760bn to Customers
Eight banks gave out loans and advances worth N760 billion in the first quarter (Q1) of 2021 in a bid to stimulate economic growth constrained by numerous headwinds, according to data compiled by THISDAY. The banks are: Access Bank Plc, FBN Holdings Plc, FCMB Holdings Plc, Fidelity Bank Plc, Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, Wema Bank Plc and Zenith Bank Plc. The lending figures, collated from the unaudited results of the banks, showed that Zenith Bank Plc led with N260 billion, which raised its loans and advances portfolio to customers to N2.841 trillion at the end of Q1, up from N2.581 trillion at the end of December 30, 2020. This Day
First Bank recognized as most admired financial firm
First Bank of Nigeria Limited has been ranked the second ‘Most admired financial services brand’ in Africa for the second consecutive year at the 2021 Brand Africa 100: Africa’s Best Brands Event. This was disclosed in a statement titled ‘FirstBank clinches another international recognition: Ranked second most admired financial services brand in Africa’ on Sunday. According to the statement, First Bank had been at the forefront of promoting growth and development in the country, extending its financial services footprints through its subsidiaries to over half a dozen countries across three continents. Punch
ECONOMY
Naira faces renewed pressure as FX hoarding increases
The foreign exchange crisis in the country may worsen soon, as anti-market schemes, speculation and hoarding, have taken firmer hold in the market, The Guardian has learnt. At the weekend, the naira slipped further trading at between N494/$ and N498/$ at the black market. The dollar surged last week following the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange (NAFEX) as the default official rate against the scrapped N379/$ official rate. Last week, the NAFEX (or investors’ and exporters’ (I & E), a pseudo market rate, closed at N412/$. The Guardian
NNPC Plans N126bn Deduction from June Remittance to FAAC
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has served notice to the Federation Account and Allocation Committee (FAAC) that it will deduct about N126 billion from its remittance to the Federation Account at the next meeting scheduled for June. This is coming as the Group Managing Director of the corporation, Malam Mele Kyari, yesterday clarified that the plan by the corporation to purchase 20 per cent minority stake in Dangote Refinery has not been concluded. This Day
Central Banks and rat race for digital currencies
‘Keeping up with the Joneses’ is a fairly popular phrase in the consumption hypothesis, where it assumes an increasing obsession with social status among neighbours. In a modern economy, the phrase also sits well with peer-to-peer catch-up tendencies among national macroeconomic managers. But the current race to create Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), a digital representation of fiat currencies expected to be part of the money supplies of the respective countries, goes beyond the mere postulation of the underlying theory of ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ or the feeling of being left behind. The Guardian