Nigeria’s stock market finished the week on a poor note, extending its previous day’s loss. The ASI declined by -1.17% to 25,016.00 index points. Consequently, the Year to Date loss dipped to -6.88%. Also, investors lost N154.28 billion in value, as market capitalization dropped to N13.04 trillion.

In terms of activity levels, market activity mirrored the broad index as total volumes and values declined by -20.61% and -52.51% to 214.49 million units and 2.51 billion respectively. ZENITH BANK was the most traded stock by volume at 22.2 million units, while NB topped by value at N666 million.

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Market sentiment, measured by market breadth, was however positive with 22 gainers led by BOCGAS (10.00%), against 18 losers topped by CABDURY (-9.47%).

Across the major indexes we cover, four out of five indexes closed negative. The Industrial goods (-3.91%) index was the worst performer, due to BUACEM (-5.44%) and DANGCEMENT (-2.04%) price decline. The Consumer Goods (-1.23%) and Energy (-0.96%) indices followed, owing to sell-offs in CADBURY (-9.47%); NB (-4.55%); GUINNESS (-3.68%) and OANDO (-2.22%).

Also, the Banking (-0.28%) index lost points, as prices of GUARANTY (-2.45%) and FBNH(-1.82%) fell. The Insurance index was the lone gainer, up +0.06% on price appreciation in CHIPLC, CUSTODIAN & AIICO Insurance.

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Top gainers

BOCGAS up 10.00% to close at N4.4; SKYAVN up 9.64% to close at N2.73; NASCON up 1.77% to close at N11.5; CUSTODIAN up 3.42% to close at N6.05; and NEIMETH up 9.94% to close at N1.77.

Top losers

CADBURY down 9.47% to close at N7.65; BUACEMENT down 5.44% to close at N40; NB down 4.55% to close at N42; GUINNESS down 3.68% to close at N18.3; and DANGCEM down 2.04% to close at N139.

Outlook

Market dropped close to the N13 trillion market capitalization support level, as heavy selling was observed among blue-chip stocks. Nairametrics recommends caution as price swing momentum strengthens.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has debited twenty-six banks, including merchant banks, to the tune of N459.7 billion for failure to meet their CRR (Cash Reserve Ratio) obligations. The fresh debit, which Nairametrics reliably gathered occurred yesterday, has left many stakeholders in the banking sector very upset.

The details: Among the banks that were most affected are United Bank for Africa Plc (N82.3 billion), First Bank of Nigeria Ltd (N59.3), Zenith Bank Plc (N50 billion), First City Monument Bank (FCMB) Limited (N45 billion), and Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (N40 billion). The rest of the affected banks can be seen in the table below.

Note that the latest CRR debits are coming barely one month after a lot of banks were collectively debited to the tune of N1.4 trillion for the same reason in April. Between then and now, a lot of other minor CRR debits have occurred. Nairametrics understands that the apex bank now debits banks on a weekly basis.

Some backstory: During the CBN’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting that was held last month, committee members voted to retain CRR rate at 27.5%. The rate was increased in January this year from 5% to its current level after the apex bank cited inflationary pressure concerns. What this means, therefore, is that Nigerian banks are required to keep 27.5% of their deposits as CRR with the Central Bank of Nigeria.

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But banks are silently upset: Sadly, this move, in addition to similar policies by the CBN, has left many banks cash-strapped and unable to pursue various profitable ventures. While reacting to the latest development, a banker who refused to be identified, said:

“What we’ve seen in recent times is that the CBN just indiscriminately debits banks, usually towards the stale-end of every week. They will look at your bank account and if your liquidity is plenty, they will debit you.

“You know the central bank also does what we call retail FX intervention, that is when they sell FX to corporates. Now, because they don’t want banks coming with huge demands, what they do is that a day before the FX sales, they debit the banks so that the naira you have available is small and you cannot put them under pressure because of your FX demands. That has really been the driver.

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“We understand that the central bank had set up a special CRR team that is supposed to monitor banks’ CRR once a month. But now, the team monitors banks’ CRR on a weekly basis. This is why the central bank is effectively debiting banks on a weekly basis. Some weeks ago, they debited some banks about N1.4 trillion. That was one of many. Between that time and now, there have been more debits that have happened. But the debits that are huge/significant are what is troubling the banks. There was a N300 billion that happened about two weeks ago. and then yesterday that was this N459.7 billion that was also debited.

“These are huge amounts that are leaving the banking sector. It’s a squeeze on the banks. A bank like First Bank, for instance, has about N1.4 trillion in CRR with the Central Bank. And there is Zenith Bank with equally as much as N1.5 trillion. These are monies that banks can potentially put in loans at 52% at 30%, or even put in money market instruments at maybe 10%. So, for a shareholder of these banks, this CRR debits are impairing the banks’ ability to increase their earnings because now are not able to use the funds that are legitimately theirs to create money for their shareholders. And the question is that under what framework is the Central Bank choosing to take people’s money?”

Understanding CRR: The cash reserve requirement is the minimum amount banks are expected to retain with the Central Bank of Nigeria from customer deposits. In January, the CRR was increased from 5% to 27.5%  by the CBN Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) who explained that the decision was intended to address monetary-induced inflation whilst retaining the benefits from the CBN’s LDR policy.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Published its Treasury Bills program for June to August 2020, indicating that it plans to raise about ₦821.8 billion in cash.

Check out: CBN says commercial banks can invest in Treasury Bills for now(Opens in a new browser tab)

The Central Bank sells treasury bills on a bi-weekly basis to investors and is one of the safest investments available. Interests are paid upfront and the principal paid in full upon maturity.

Learn to invest in treasury bills here

3rd quarter of 2020

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2nd quarter of 2020

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1st quarter of 2020

READ MORE: UPDATED: Nigeria received $5.85 billion capital inflows in Q1 2020 –NBS

4th quarter of 2019

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