Markets
MTN, UACN, Lasaco lead gainers chart on Monday
The stock market continued its trend of positive performance today as the All share index gained 0.74% to close at 29,633.58 index points
The stock market continued its bullish trend on Monday, as the All share index gained 0.74% to close at 29,633.58 index points leaving the equity market capitalisation of the market at N15.29 trillion.
MTN Nigeria, NPF Microfinance, Lasaco Assurance, UACN and GSK topped the rank of gainers on the bourse as Cadbury Nigeria and Transcorp Hotel led today’s losers.
Top gainers
MTN Nigeria was the best performing stock on Monday with 10% gain to close at N127.6 followed by NPF Microfinance bank having gained 9.68% to close at N1.36 as UACN gained 7.8 to close at N11.05. Lasaco Assurance gained 7.41% to close at N0.29 while Glaxo Smith Kline rounded off the list with 6.6 gain to close at N5.65.
Nigerian Stock Exchange
Top losers
On the flip side, Cadbury Nigeria was the worst-performing stock as it dipped 9.95% to close at N9.5 followed by Transcorp Hotel, which lost 9.18% to close at N4.45. Neimeth pharmaceuticals dipped 8.93% to close at N0.51.
Presco plc lost 8.17% to close at N52.25 while Unilever Nigeria lost 5.26% to close at N18.
Top trades by volume
[READ ALSO: Stock Market shed N197.35 billion on Monday]
Access bank was the most actively traded stock on the bourse today, having traded in 63.7 million shares valued at N628.8 million across 450 deals followed by UBA, which traded in 40.6 million shares at N354.2 million across 386 deals.
Zenith bank plc traded in 39.5 million shares at N861.15 million across 456 deals as UACN also traded in large volume with 24.4 million shares traded at N268.65 million across 208 deals while GT bank capped the list with trades in N18.17 million shares at N573.72 million across 237 deals.
Commodities
Oil prices drop amid fears on energy demand softening
West Texas Intermediate, lost 1.6%, at $52.27 per barrel. It was WTI’s worst daily plunge slide since last Friday when it fell 2.2%.
Oil prices fell their most in a week after the first U.S. crude build in six weeks on the fear that the world’s largest economy might distort energy demand/supply rebalancing.
What you must know: U.S based oil contract, West Texas Intermediate, lost 1.6%, at $52.27 per barrel. It was WTI’s worst daily plunge since last Friday when it fell 2.2%.
READ: Non-oil sector is critical to Nigeria’s economic recovery in 2021 – Cordros Capital
- But for the week itself, the U.S. crude contract lost about 0.2%.
- British based Brent, the global benchmark for crude, settled 1.4%, at $56.10.
- The gain in crude oil inventories coincided with President Joe Biden’s recent statements calling on its citizens for tough days ahead from the Covid-19, which could kill up to about half a million Americans.
Stephen Innes, Chief Global Market Strategist at Axi, in a note to Nairametrics, gave valid insights on the effect COVID-19 and other macros have on oil prices.
READ: FIRS hits 98% of target as it collects N4.95 trillion for 2020 fiscal year
“Oil prices look a tad vulnerable to potential profit-taking after US crude stockpile bearishly rose 2.56 million against consensus draw. Simultaneously, the near-term China crude demand forecast looks high and susceptible to revision lower as lockdown spread in the country ahead of the Lunar New Year
.“While oil traders see through longer lockdowns on the premise that vaccinations will quickly lead us out of the pandemic, COVID mobility clampdowns still hurt the very near-term view.
READ: Bitcoin, Gold, leading Stocks tumble on strong U.S dollar
“And since calls for a commodity supercycle have been many after the November vaccine turnaround, open interest in Brent and WTI has increased hugely, suggesting that the market remains very susceptible to any potential bearish headlines big or small, from a positioning perspective alone.”
What to expect: OPEC production at the moment remains well below the level required to meet anticipated demand. It should continue to drive a reduction in oil inventories as the global economy gradually recovers.
Cryptocurrency
Why Bitcoin could triple in value annually
Michael Saylor recently disclosed why he believes the flagship crypto-asset could triple in value
The leader of the biggest traded business intelligence firm, Michael Saylor recently disclosed why he believes the flagship crypto-asset, Bitcoin, could triple in value yearly.
In a Stansberry Research interview, Saylor explained Bitcoin is monetary energy that will attract lots of money;
“In a monetary expansion environment where I crank the monetary inflation rate up by 15%, that $300 trillion has got to find a store of value that’s not a fiat derivative.
READ: 94% of Bitcoin investors are making money
“That means that Bitcoin is going to keep growing and its monetary force is going to keep growing and it’s probably going to grow 200% a year until it has demonetized gold, silver, sovereign debt, bond indexes, stock indexes, every source of monetary energy which is just a store of value for someone that doesn’t want to lose their purchasing power and needs a scarce asset, ” Saylor said.
Another key macro supporting the bullish bias of Micheal Saylor is data showing the number of addresses holding 1,000 BTC just reached a new all-time high of 2,446.
Over the last 21 days, 141 new whale addresses with over 1k BTC were created, suggesting large entities are expecting a significant price rise for Bitcoin in the near future.
READ: 100 Crypto wallets have at least 10,000 Bitcoins
The number of addresses holding 1,000 BTC just reached a new all time high of 2,446.
Over the last 21 days, 141 new whale address with over 1k BTC were created, suggesting large entities are expecting a significant price rise for #Bitcoin in the near future.
Chart: @glassnode pic.twitter.com/D6vMXBLugy
— Bloqport (@Bloqport) January 21, 2021
READ: CBN retains MPR at 11.5%, holds other parameters constant
Some days ago, MicroStrategy purchased approximately 314 bitcoins for $10.0 million in cash in accordance with its Treasury Reserve Policy, at an average price of approximately $31,808 per bitcoin, showing they hold approximately 70,784 Bitcoin, and thereby making the flagship crypto-asset scarce.
MicroStrategy has purchased approximately 314 bitcoins for $10.0 million in cash in accordance with its Treasury Reserve Policy, at an average price of approximately $31,808 per bitcoin. We now hold approximately 70,784 bitcoins.https://t.co/zMJSH29bmC
— Michael Saylor (@michael_saylor) January 22, 2021
Cryptocurrency
Crypto entity moves $227 million worth of Bitcoin
a large entity transferred 6,925 BTC worth $226,609,828, from Unknown wallet to Unknown wallet.
Large entities in the Bitcoin market are transferring a significant amount of Bitcoin amid the prevailing market volatility in play.
Data retrieved from Whale Alert, an advanced crypto tracker, revealed a large entity transferred 6,925 BTC worth $226,609,828, from an unknown wallet to another unknown wallet.
READ: 273,000 Bitcoins taken away from crypto market within a month
🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨 🚨 6,925 #BTC (226,609,828 USD) transferred from unknown wallet to unknown wallet
— Whale Alert (@whale_alert) January 23, 2021
- At the Bitcoin market, investors or traders who own large amounts of bitcoins are typically known as Bitcoin whale.
- This means that a BTC whale would be an individual or business entity (with a single Bitcoin address), that owns around 1000 coins or more.
- As BTC whales accumulate BTCs, Bitcoin’s circulating supply reduces, and this can weaken any bearish trend bitcoin finds itself in.
READ: 230 million XRP worth over $117 million moved by powerful investors
Meaning that over time, it’s possible that as BTC approaches its fixed supply of 21 million – the price of BTC will go up, with BTC’s present demand factored in.
- leading household names in finance that include Paul Tudor Jones and Stanley Druckenmiller endorsed it as an alternative asset, adding to the rally.
- Not forgetting listed U.S brands like MicroStrategy Inc. and Square Inc. that moved their cash reserves into crypto in search of better returns than what near-zero interest rates deliver.
READ: Crypto: LEND gains more than 4000% in one year, set to rally higher
Also, a leading crypto expert, Willy Woo, via his Twitter handle, hinted that Bitcoin’s price could still rally higher on the bias that the “Inventory depletion on spot crypto exchanges has stopped, signifying the re-accumulation phase of this macrocycle is likely to complete. If this cycle mimics the last, inventory on exchanges will increase, as retail starts entering in large numbers, attracted by the price rises.”
