Business
Stock Market Loses N32.26bn As Investors Take Profits
The equities market of Nigerian Exchange Limited slid by N32.26bn at the end of trading on Monday as investors cashed in on recent price appreciation.
The NGX All-Share index rose by 0.15 per cent, closing at 41,976.79 basis points from 42,038.60bps last Friday while the market capitalisation of stocks declined from N21.94tn to N21.91tn.
Market activities traded negative as the volume of shares traded slumped by 66.53 per cent to 378.15 million units valued at N3.24bn in 6,384 deals, compared to 1.13 billion shares worth N13.78bn in 5,458 deals last Friday.
Analysing by sectors, the NGX Oil & Gas, Banking, and Consumer Goods indices declined by 1.8 per cent, 0.4 per cent, and 0.3 per cent respectively while the NGX Insurance and Industrial Goods indices recorded gains of 1.9 per cent and 0.1 per cent respectively.
Market sentiment, as measured by market breadth, was largely negative as 33 firms’ depreciated while 20 tickers saw gains in share price.
Eterna Plc recorded the biggest loss on Monday as its share price tumbled by 9.94 per cent to close at N7.79 per share. UPDC lost 9.44 per cent to close at N1.63 per share.
Atop the gainers’ chart was Fidson Healthcare Industries Plc as its share price climbed by 9.92 per cent to N6.76 at the end of trading on the floor of the NGX.
Guinness Nigeria Plc gained 9.92 per cent gain as its share price closed at N39.9 on Monday.
Analysts at Atlas Portfolio Limited said, “The Nigeria equity market kick-starts the new month on a negative note as the market indicators declined by 0.15 per cent.
“The negative sentiment was driven by price decline in banking, consumer goods and oil and gas sectors as investors begin profit-taking from the recent price appreciation.”
Analysts at Cordros Capital said, “The Nigerian equities market started the week and month on a negative note as profit-taking witnessed in FBN Holdings Plc (-2.71 per cent), Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc (-0.87 per cent), and Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (-4.49 per cent) caused a decline in the benchmark index.”
Cornerstone of Financial Services
A survey of more than 1 000 global finance leaders undertaken by digital payment network Ripple shows that 72% of respondents believe they need to offer a digital asset solution to remain competitive.
According to Ripple, leaders from the banking, fintech, corporate and asset management sector have made it clear that the “digital asset revolution is happening now”.
“Digital assets are quickly becoming a cornerstone of financial services, underpinned by progressive regulation, growing interest from Tier-1 banks, a steady consumer shift from banks to fintech providers, and booming stablecoin adoption,” Ripple says.
The survey was conducted in early 2026 and the findings released in March.
Stablecoin Boon or Bane?
Ripple has experienced significant success in the stablecoin sector since launching its Ripple USD (RLUSD) stablecoin in 2024.
With a market cap of $1.56 billion, it is considered a major regulated player in the market.
No doubt the platform was pleased to learn through its own survey that financial leaders were most bullish about stablecoins.
Roughly three-quarters of respondents believed they could boost cash-flow efficiency and unlock trapped working capital.
Ripple noted that finance leaders were thinking about stablecoins as more than “just a new way to execute payments”; instead, they viewed them as effective tools for treasury management.
In March 2026, Ripple began testing a new trade finance model built around RLUSD in a bid to increase the speed of cross-border payments.
The pilot initiative, developed alongside supply chain finance company Unloq [https://unloq.com], is running on the XRP Ledger inside a testing framework developed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
The Asian city-state is one of the platform’s biggest growth markets.
The idea behind the project is to see whether stablecoin-based settlement can streamline trade finance, too often hampered by reliance on intermediaries and slow reconciliation.
The only potential drawback is that if the initiative takes off, the Ripple to USD price could be negatively affected.
Ripple has always championed its native XRP token as a bridge asset, the “middleman” in the process of a financial institution turning dollars in the US into pounds in the UK, for example.
Ripple converts dollars into XRP and then back into pounds.
If RLUSD can do exactly the same thing, questions will be asked about XRP’s relevance.
That is a bridge Ripple will have to cross if it gets to that point.
Tokenisation Partners
Another interesting finding from Ripple’s survey is that most banks and asset managers are seeking tokenisation partners to help execute their strategies.
Some 89% of respondents said digital asset storage and custody were top priority. “Token servicing/lifecycle management also ranks highly for banks at 82%, while asset managers place greater emphasis on primary distribution at 80%,” Ripple found.
The survey also revealed that just more than half of fintechs and financial institutions want an infrastructure provider that can offer a “one-stop-shop solution”. This rose to 71% among corporate financial leaders.
Ripple attributes this to institutions and firms wanting uncomplicated, cohesive systems.
Infrastructure Rules
In its final analysis, Ripple says companies across the board are looking for partners and solutions that are “secure, compliant, battle-tested and that enable growth and execution”.
“The message is clear: infrastructure decisions made today will shape competitive positioning tomorrow.”
No surprise that this is precisely where Ripple is placing much of its focus.
