Investors in the Nigerian Exchange Limited suffered losses amounting to N167 billion on Friday, in contrast, the United States stock market recorded historic gains.

After the close of business at the NGX on Friday, market capitalisation declined by 0.25 percent.

The bearish trend at NGX is caused by a wave of sell-offs and dampened investor confidence, leaving market watchers on edge.

From an opening value of N66.518 trillion on Thursday, the NGX capitalisation slumped to N66.351 trillion, marking a sharp decline.

Similarly, the All-Share Index (ASI) tumbled by 265.81 points to settle at 105,955.13, down from the previous close of 106,220.94.

Market sentiment remained negative, with 24 stocks posting losses against 22 gainers. On the losers table were Tantalizer, which nosedived by 9.85 percent to close at N2.93, and Jaiz Bank, which plunged 9.72 percent to settle at N3.25 per share.

Neimeth International Pharmaceutical suffered a 9.45 percent drop to close at N2.49, while industry heavyweight Dangote Sugar fell by 7.76 percent to N35.05 per share. Lasaco Assurance also dipped 5.96 percent, closing at N2.68 per share.

On the flipside, Royal Exchange led the gainers, surging by 10 percent to close at 88k. Linkage Assurance soared 9.57 percent to N1.26 per share, while Guinea Insurance rose 9.52 percent to close at 69k. Nigerian Enamelware climbed 9.05 percent to N25.30, and Red Star Express advanced 8.41 percent to settle at N5.80 per share.

US stocks surge, adding over $1.3tn

The US stock market on Friday recorded historic gains for the first time since November last year.

US stocks opened higher and gained steam later Friday morning. By the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average had risen 675 points, about 1.7 percent. The S&P 500 added 2.1 percent, and the Nasdaq Composite led the way with a 2.6 percent gain, the best day for both since the day after the November U.S. presidential election.

Earlier on Thursday, new tariff threats and mixed inflation news pushed the S&P into its first correction since late 2023. Despite Friday’s gains, the Dow, S&P, and Nasdaq ended the week down more than 2 percent.

On Thursday, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer agreed he would vote to advance a Republican measure to fund the government through the rest of the year.

Gold prices topped $3,000 a troy ounce late Thursday for the first time and ended Friday at a fresh record just below the milestone.

Similarly, oil prices ended higher to avoid an eighth consecutive weekly decline.

The Naira registered its first appreciation against the U.S. dollar on Friday, breaking a week-long depreciation streak at the official foreign exchange (FX) market.

According to market data, the Naira strengthened to N1,550.36 per dollar on Friday, improving from N1,554.85/$1 recorded on Thursday. This slight gain of N4.49 marks the currency’s only appreciation during the trading week.

While the official exchange rate saw a marginal improvement, the black-market rate remained stable at N1,590 per dollar, the same rate as the previous day. Despite Friday’s appreciation, the Naira generally experienced a downward trend throughout the week.

Compared to its position last Friday, when it stood at N1,517.24/$1, the Naira has weakened by N33.12 over the week. Similarly, in the parallel market, the Naira declined by N10 on a week-on-week basis, dropping from N1,580/$1 recorded last Friday.

Although Friday’s appreciation brought slight relief, the overall performance of the Naira during the week reflected a greater depreciation trend amid ongoing forex market volatility.

Nigeria spent $817.4m, approximately N1.26 trillion, to service its debt in the first two months of 2025. This represents a 3.12 percent decline when compared to $843.73 million spent in the corresponding period of 2024.

Data from the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, International Payments Report shows that in January 2025, the government spent $540.7 million and in February 2025 it spent $276.7 million on debt servicing.

Further breakdown shows that the country had spent $3.81 billion (about N5.9 trillion) for debt service/Payments in 2024.

Recall that the Federal Government unveiled its largest national budget in 65 years, with a record-breaking N54.99 trillion proposed spending, representing a 56.89 percent increase from the N35.05 trillion budgeted in 2024 (including a supplementary N6.2 trillion).

President Bola Tinubu described it as the “Budget of Restoration,” aimed at stabilising the economy and driving growth.

In the budget debt servicing is allocated N16.3 trillion, a 95 percent increase from N8.25 trillion budgeted in 2024.

Meanwhile, data showed that Nigeria’s foreign trade in Letters of Credit, LC, payments fell by 0.55 percent Year-on-Year (YoY) to $160 million in the first two months of this year from $160.9 million in the corresponding period of last year.

LC payments is one of the critical measure of a country’s credit worthiness but a decline or increase could also reflect developments in volume of import trades.

LC payments for 2024 stood at $801.06 million, representing a 39 percent YoY decline from $1.32billion in 2023.