Business
NSE Market Capitalisation Up By N324bn
The market indicators of
the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), for the third consecutive day, maintained an upward trend with the market capitalisation appreciating by N324 billion due to massive price gains.
Reports say that the market capitalisation rose by N324 billion or 3.10 per cent to close at N10.763 trillion against N10.439 trillion achieved on Tuesday.
Also, the All-Share Index rose by 944.95 points or 3.10 per cent to close at 31,403.75 compared with 30,458.86 posted on Tuesday.
Alhaji Rasheed Yussuf, the Managing Director, Trust Yields Investment Ltd., attributed the growth to investors’ response to President Muhammadu Buhari’s determination to curb corruption.
Yussuf said that investors were responding to government’s body language that “it will no longer be business as usual in the country”.
He said that government’s appointment of a technocrat as the new Group Managing Director for the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) contributed to the market’s gsins.
Yussuf said that investors were optimistic that government would appoint the right people as ministers.
“Some investors are beginning to increase their stake in the market and the rate of share glut is reducing,” he said.
Yussuf explained that government’s determination to stabilise the nation’s currency contributed to the development in the market.
He said that government needed to come out with concrete economic policy, adding that the trend might not last.
A breakdown of the price movement chart showed that Forte Oil recorded the highest price growth, appreciating by N8.85 to close at N202.95 per share.
Dangote Cement followed with a gain of N8.50 to close at N180.50, while Nigerian Breweries appreciated by N6.05 to close at N127.05 per share.
Guinness grew by N5.93 to close at N136.93 and 7UP chalked up N5 to close at N195 per share.
Conversely, Northern Nigeria Flour Mills topped the losers’ chart, dropping by 73k to close at N13.99 per share.
Berger Paints trailed with a loss of 49k to close at N9.50, Champion Breweries lost 10k to close at N4.99 per share.
NAHCO shed 10k to close at N4.75 and Sterling Bank dipped 7k to close at N2.08 per share.
Continental Reinsurance emerged the toast of investors, exchanging 51.77 million shares worth N45.64 million.
Zenith Bank sold 42.18 million shares worth N726.62 million while Wapic Insurance traded 37.02 million shares valued N18.51 million.
Access Bank took fourth position accounting for 36.17 million shares worth N177.12 million, while GT Bank traded 25.18 million shares valued at N642.37 million.
Investors bought and sold 336.16 million shares worth N3.04 billion transacted in 4,243 deals.
This was in contrast with 668.34 million shares valued N4.76 billion achieved in 4,416 deals on Tuesday.
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.
