HONEYWELL Flour Mills Plc, Vono Products Plc, University Press Plc, e-Transact International Plc, Forte Oil Plc and Vitafoam Nigeria Plc enjoyed investors’ patronage last week to emerge top on the list of top performing stocks.

The federal government’s drive to create jobs for millions of unemployed Nigerians may suffer a huge set back following the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) recent directive excluding some essential raw materials from the list of items valid for forex in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange (forex) markets. According to business analysts, this move will in no time lead to the lay-off of over 40, 000 Nigerians who work in the manufacturing sector.

Following the recent announcement by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of the level of compliance by Capital Market Operators (CMOs) to the new minimum capital requirement, the Market-wide Implementation Committee has called on the investing public to verify the compliance status of their preferred CMO before patronising them.

Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Standard Alliance Insurance Plc Mr. Bode Akinboye, in this interview elucidates on the giant strides the company is taking to deliver superior services to customers.

E-TRANSACT led the top 10 performers last week with 13.17 percent or N0.32 increase, closing at N2.75 from N2.43 at the beginning of the week. NEM Insurance followed with 7.69 per cent or N0.05 appreciation, closing at N0.70 from N0.65.

Fitch Ratings has declared that reducing reserve requirements to 25 per cent will not add liquidity to the Nigerian banking system because the reduction will not lead to additional Foreign Currency (FC).

Ahead of the last quarter of the year, investors have been advised to be careful of the stocks they buy from the stock market. Shareholders, who spoke with Investors Forum, said that there would be further drop on stock prices occasioned by festive period, just as they advised investors to be beware of their purchases.

Following an order by the Federal High Court vacating an interim injunction barring the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) from expelling BGL Group from capital market activities over alleged fraud and malpractices, SEC has said that BGL, its subsidiaries and sponsored individuals remain suspended from operating in the Nigerian capital market.

The Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, has expressed optimism that its oversight function over the dealing member firms will lead to enhanced investors’ confidence and enhanced capabilities for market integrity.

To aid its development financing objectives, especially to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), the Bank of Industry (BoI), has secured a $100 million line of credit from the African Development Bank (AfDB).