The market capitalisation of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) last week bowed to profit taking losing N583 billion with loses by some blue chips.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the market capitalisation which opened at N11.691 trillion lost N583 billion or 4.99 per cent depreciated by 4.99 per cent to close N11.108 trillion.
The All-Share Index dipped by 1688.42 points or 4.99 per cent to close at 32,122.14 against 33,810.56 achieved in the corresponding week.
NAN reports that 23 equities appreciated in price during the week under review lower than 38 equities in the previous week, while 52 equities depreciated in price, higher than 42 equities posted in the comparative period.
On the other hand, Transcorp recorded the highest loss for the week in percentage terms, shedding 23.12 or 43k to close at N1.43 per share.
Jaiz Bank trailed with a loss of 17.98 per cent or 16k to close at 73k, while Fidson Healthcare shed 16.67 per cent or 55k to close at N2.75 per share.
On the other hand, Neimeth International Pharmaceutical led the gainers’ table in percentage terms, gaining 44.12 per cent or 30k to close at 95k per share.
Ashaka Cement followed with a gain of 21.39 per cent or N3.01 to close at N17.08 and Livestock Feeds gained 20.88 per cent or 19k to close at N1.10 per share.
Mr Sewa Wusu, Head of Research, SCM Capital Ltd., in an interview with NAN attributed the development to profit taking caused by sustained rally witnessed by the market over the last couple of weeks.
Wusu said that the momentum oscillators indicated that the market was in the overbought region, an indication that profit taking sentiments would prevail and that was exactly what happened last week.
“We had anticipated it. However, the market outlook still looks promising in terms of attraction valuations across some counters.
“The only drag that may likely slow down the market mood is the outlook on oil prices at the international markets.
“Otherwise, we may still continue to witness some uptick. Investors as a result may likely exhibit some caution going forward,’’ Wusu said.
Mr Ambrose Omordion, the Chief Operating Officer, InvestData Ltd., said that the economic fundamentals and factors that brought the market to positive level were still intact except for the unstable price of oil.
Omordion stated that the current pullback was as result of profit taking that coincided with the mixed reaction to the standalone status of Nigeria in the frontier markets index of emerging markets index of Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI).
He said that Argentina and Nigeria were in the standalone category, noting that some investors reacted negatively to the development.
“Nigeria’s readmission into the index was postponed to November to see if the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will sustain its import and export window of the exchange market.
“Before now MSCI has assigned more weight to Nigeria stocks in the index which is good,’’ Omordion said.
NAN reports that a turnover of 2.31 billion shares worth N24.58 billion were exchanged by investors in 27,836 deals last week against 2.74 billion shares valued at N32.04 billion transacted in 32,217 deals in the preceding week.
The Financial Services Industry led the week’s activity chart with 1.78 billion shares worth N15.87 billion traded in 15,948 deals.
The sector contributed 77.17 per cent and 64.55 per cent to the total equity turnover volume and value respectively.
The Conglomerates sector followed with a turnover of 239.23 million shares valued N571.91 million in 1,251 deals.
The third place was occupied by Consumer Goods Industry with a turnover of 85.66 million shares worth N4.52 billion traded in 3,673 deals. (NAN)
JNC/PDE
Brussels: EU antitrust regulators slapped a record 2.42-billion-euro ($2.7 billion) fine on Alphabet unit Google today by illegally favouring its shopping service.
The European Commission said the world’s most popular internet search engine has 90 days to end its anti-competitive practice or face penalty payments up to 5 percent of Alphabet’s average daily worldwide turnover.
The action came after a seven-year long investigation prompted by scores of complaints from rivals such as US consumer review website Yelp, TripAdvisor, UK price comparison site Foundem, News Corp and lobbying group FairSearch.
This is the biggest fine for a single company in an EU antitrust case, exceeding a 1.06-billion-euro sanction handed down to US chipmaker Intel in 2009.
Making agriculture profitable and “cool” for young people in Africa is key to lifting millions out of poverty and stemming migration to Europe, said the president of the African Development Bank (AfDB).
Akinwumi Adesina was named the winner of this year’s World Food Prize on Monday for his decades-long work to boost food production in his native Nigeria, increase access to credit for small farmers across Africa and transform the continent’s agriculture.
Kenneth Quinn, president of the Des Moines, Iowa-based World Food Prize Foundation, said the $250,000 award reflected Adesina’s “breakthrough achievements” as Nigeria’s minister of agriculture and his critical role in the development of the nonprofit Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa.
Adesina, 57, told Reuters he was humbled by the award but felt his work to ensure Africa could feed itself was “uncompleted business.”
Almost 30 percent of the 795 million people in the world who do not have enough to eat are in Africa, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization.
“When I look at Africa today, I see that many rural areas unfortunately have become zones of economic misery,” Adesina said in a phone interview ahead of the award’s announcement.
No sector has greater potential to revive those areas than agriculture, but investments are needed to make it attractive for young people, many of whom risk their lives migrating in search of better opportunities in Europe, Adesina said.
“We must make agriculture cool for young people,” he said. “The key is to make agriculture a business. Agriculture is not a way of life, is not a development activity, it’s a business.”
Africa has 65 percent of the world’s uncultivated arable land but imports food for $35 billion every year, a bill that is expected to swell to $110 billion by 2025, he said.
“It makes no sense. That is food Africa should be producing, processing, selling and exporting,” he said. “Africa in the future should not only feed itself, but it must contribute to feeding the world.”
Toward this end, agriculture must become more industrialized, with farmers gaining better access to seeds, fertilizer, credit, power and infrastructure, he said.
Farmers should be supported to transform from producers of raw materials, such as cocoa and cotton, to manufacturers of finished goods such as chocolate and garments, which have less volatile prices, Adesina said.
To accelerate growth, the AfDB aimed to invest $12 billion in the energy sector, hoping to leverage another $50 billion from the private sector, he said.
Last year, AfDB had invested $800 million to support young agro-entrepreneurs in eight countries and planned to extend the scheme to 30 nations, he added.
Adesina called on governments and institutional investors, such as pension and insurance funds, to “see the gold” in African agriculture and invest in it to unlock its potential. He said he was convinced the future billionaires of Africa would come from agriculture.
“I don’t believe that the future of African youth lies at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea,” he said. “The future of African young people lies in a more prosperous and inclusive Africa, and there is no other sector that has greater power to create growth than the agricultural sector.”
Adesina was named winner of the World Food Prize, regarded as the equivalent of a Nobel Prize for agriculture, in a ceremony on Monday at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington.
Jethro Ibileke/Benin
Four oil and gas bearing communities in Orhionmwon Local Government Area of Edo State, have issued a 7-day ultimatum to Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc, to commence negotiations for the payment of compensations to them or or vacate their host communities.
The communities, namely, Oben, Iguelaba, Ikobi and Obazogbe-nugu, also demanded that the oil exploration company commence immediately, a joint assessment and evaluation that would be credible to both the company and the people.
Speaking on behalf of the communities at a community town hall, Mr. West Uyigue Ogiemwonyi, said Oben is reported to have had the largest gas reserve in West Africa with Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc as the operator of the field but regrettably, its host communities are highly neglected by both the exploration company, State and Federal Governments.
Ogiemwonyi said the environment had been degraded and devastated as a result of oil and gas exploration and exploitation activities, especially gas flaring which he said had affected their crops and led to acid rains, extreme weather conditions.
He said these negative impact informed them to engage an environmental consultant to carry out post environmental evaluation, costing for compensation, adding that the report had since been handed over to the company for its study, consideration and possibly open for negotiations for payment of compensation but the company failed to meet up with its responsibilities.
Ogiemwonyi said consequent upon its company’s refusal to pay compensation to the host communities, the company should be prepared to leave the communities within seven days or face their wrath.
He said the company should live up to its responsibilities of providing infrastructure, adequate employment, training and engaging the people of the host communities as its permanent staff.
The spokesman lamented that their communities that are contributing so much to the State and Federal governments have been completely abandoned by successive governments at all levels, stressing that there is nothing to indicate the presence of both governments in the various communities.
“There is no single federal government presence in Oben. The only State government’s presence, which is the primary and secondary schools, are in very deplorable states, with dilapidated classroom blocks.
“There are no desks and chairs for the students to sit to learn, no toilet facilities, no water, no science laboratory, no library. In fact, the primary school can best be described as Akara school of those days and the secondary school as an over glorified primary school,” Ogiemwonyi said.
He also call on the government to wade into the activities of herdsmen in the communities as they now live in perpetual fear.
Earlier, the Onogie of Oben Community, HRH Odoligie Ogiemwonyi, said he was in support of the decision reached by his subjects, adding that governments at both levels should come to their rescue to bring about development to the various host communities in Orhionmwon.
JUNE 26, 2017
By Eddie Van Der Walt
- Comex volume spiked to 18,149 lots in a minute at 9am London
- ‘No-one has a clue’ what happened, Marex’s Govett says
sank like a stone at 9 a.m. in London after a huge spike in volume in New York futures that traders said was probably the result of a “fat finger,” or erroneous order.
Trade shot up to 1.8 million ounces of gold in just a minute, a level not reached even with the surprise election of U.S. President Donald Trump or Britain’s vote to leave the European Union.
“No-one has a clue, apart from the unfortunate individual that pressed the wrong button,” David Govett, head of precious metals trading at Marex Spectron Group in London, said of the spike in volume. Thin activity and automated trading may exacerbate such moves, he said.
Others said a trader may have made a larger order than intended, or underestimated the market’s ability to absorb so much gold.
Some 18,149 lots were traded on Comex in just a minute, before falling back to 2,334 lots an hour later.
Gold fell as much as 1.6 percent to $1,236.43 an ounce, the lowest since May 16. It dropped through the key moving average for the previous 100 days, and touched the 200-day figure. The metal was at $1,242.52 an ounce by 12:03 p.m. London.
Rising use of computer-driven algorithmic trading has often been blamed for extraordinary movements in financial markets, known as flash crashes, in recent years.
“These moves are going to become more widespread with the way things are going,” Govett said by email. “The more they happen, the worse they will become as people back away from holding positions.”
There were also signs of falling demand for gold as China, the largest consumer, in May. Purchases fell to a net 44.8 metric tons, from 74.9 tons in April, according to data from the Hong Kong Census and Statistics Department compiled by Bloomberg.
In other precious metals
- Silver for immediate delivery fell 1.1 percent to $16.5235 an ounce after touching the lowest since May 11.
- Platinum fell 1.3 percent to $918.01 an ounce.
- Palladium was down 0.5 percent at $858.10 an ounce
How to Trade Divergences
Here’s how you could trade divergences:
| Divergence Type | Price | Oscillator | Trade |
| Regular | Higher High | Lower High | SELL |
| Regular | Lower Low | Higher Low | BUY |
| Hidden | Higher Low | Lower Low | BUY |
| Hidden | Lower High | Higher High | SELL |
