Author: Julius Alagbe

Transcorp Hotels Lost 10% over Twisted Investors Sentiment Transcorp Hotels Plc. plunged by about 10% in the equities market as investors offloaded the hospitality company shares amidst earnings expectation. The company stock saw huge gain that lifted its market value to N1 trillion category in the local bourse last year. The rally lasted long, and Transcorp Hotels fell below N1 trillion before it recovered from sell side actors onslaught in the latter part of 2024. According to trading record obtained from the Nigerian Exchange, Transcorp share price declined to N114.65 on Monday, lost 9.97% on the day from N127.35 …its…

GTCO Spikes to N2.128 Trn on New Shares Listing Market value of GTCO Plc spiked to N2.128 trillion at the beginning of the week as the financial services group listed its public offer on the Nigerian Exchange. The new shares listed increased its shares outstanding on the Nigerian Exchange, NGX, to 34.136 billion, and its market value surged. In a note, stockbrokers at Atlass Portfolios Limited told investors that the banking group listed its public offer of 9,000,000,000 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each at ₦44.50 per share on the exchange today. A further check on the Nigerian Exchange Data…

DeepSeek Beats ChatGPT in AI, Rivals Stocks Plunge Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) app DeepSeek has overtaken ChatGPT and other rivals to become the top-rated free application on Apple’s App Store in the United States, United Kingdom, China and other bellwether economies. In terms of capability against major rivals, DeepSeek-V3 achieves a significant breakthrough in inference speed over previous models. It tops the leaderboard among open-source models and rivals the most advanced closed-source models globally, the company said. The take for the market is DeepSeek cost effectiveness while running on cheap chips. In 2023, DeepSeeks was spun off from High-Flyer Quant,…

Nigeria’s sovereign Eurobond yield eased to 9.4% in the international market on foreign portfolio investors improved sentiment.

Zenith Bank Plc.’s capital base has increased to N614.65 billion following a significant oversubscribed hybrid offer..

Naira Gains N16 as FX Interventions Crack Foreign Reserves The Nigerian local currency, the naira, gained N16 week on week against the US dollar to close at N1531.20 on Friday in the official market.  This happened following consistent but less aggressive FX sales to authorised dealer banks to boost US dollar volume available to meet increased demand. The Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM) exhibited stable liquidity throughout the week, although sustained demand initially pushed prices higher, AIICO Capital Limited said. FX traders reported that transactions fluctuated within ranges of N1,480.00 to N1,570.00 earlier in the week, narrowing to N1,548.00 to…

Buckets of Inflows Keep Money Market Rates in Check Money market rates declined sharply as a flood of inflows upturned the liquidity deficit in the banking system, investment firms said in separate notes. The short-term interest rates retreated from 30% levels as FAAC credits, Remita inflows, and FGN coupon payments increased liquidity position in the money market last week. Analysts at AIICO Capital Limited noted that interbank liquidity fluctuated throughout the week, influenced by FGN bond coupon inflows, FAAC payments, and Remita credits. Early in the week, liquidity position improved slightly but remained negative, keeping interbank rates elevated. By midweek,…

Nigeria’s Tech Ecosystem Must Seize Global Opportunities — Tijani The Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, Dr Bosun Tijani, has called on Nigeria’s tech ecosystem to maximise opportunities presented by international collaborations. Tijani made the call while speaking at the Nigerian-French Technology Roundtable on Friday in Lagos. He said that Nigeria’s participation at the upcoming Viva Technology (VivaTech) Conference 2025 in Paris is a pivotal moment for the nation’s digital economy. According to him, platforms like VivaTech provide an unparalleled opportunity to showcase Nigeria’s innovation and position its tech startups as leaders on the global stage. He emphasised the…

NGX Grows as Investors Portfolio Value Rises by N794bn The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) market capitalisation grew as equities investors gained more than N794 billion. The local bourse witnessed a remarkable turnaround in the just-concluded week as the benchmark index recorded significant appreciation. The All-Share Index advanced by 1.22% week-on-week to close at 103,598.30 points. Stockbrokers said the upward trajectory was buoyed by strong investor sentiment in anticipation of fourth-quarter earnings releases and the ongoing adjustments in portfolio rebalancing. In a note, Cowry Asset Limited said these factors have begun to shape investor expectations for the end-of-year financial performance of listed…

Naira Sees Rapid Gain on 8-Day FX Intervention The naira gained strongly against the US dollar in the foreign exchange (FX) market on the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) aggressive interventions. The naira appreciated by 1.1% to N1,531.20 per US dollar at the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM) as demand pressures eased.  This week, the Central Bank sold the US dollar to banks to boost FX liquidity in the official window with the aim to stem the negative tide against the local currency. On Friday, the authority sold $52 million between the rates of N1,549.55 and N1,553.  Total volume of…