By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira was relatively stable at the first trading session of the new year (January 1, 2025) at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) as it sold against the US Dollar at N1,538.23/$1.

At the final session of the past year, the Naira was exchanged with the US currency at N1,538.25/$1, indicating that the former shed a marginal 2 Kobo at the official market on Thursday.

In the spot market, the Nigerian currency appreciated against the Pound Sterling yesterday by N13.55 to wrap the session at N1,911.90/£1 compared with the preceding trading session’s N1,925.45/£1 and against the Euro, it improved its value by N5.96 to close at N1,589.45/€1, in contrast to Tuesday’s closing price of N1,595.41/€1.

A look at the parallel market showed that the domestic currency depreciated against the greenback during the session by N10 to sell for N1,655/$1 compared with the previous trading day’s N1,645/$1.

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was largely positive as investors banked on support from US President-elect Donald Trump, who is due to return to the White House last this month, precisely on January 20.

Cardano (ADA) was the biggest gainer, which rose by 11.4 per cent to trade at $1.03, followed by Ripple (XRP) which added 3.9 per cent to sell at $2.44 as Dogecoin (DOGE) recorded a value appreciation of 3.2 per cent to sell at $0.3401.

Further, Solana (SOL) jumped by 2.5 per cent to trade at $209.31, Bitcoin (BTC) recorded a 1.4 per cent rise to finish at $96,608.50, Ethereum (ETH) expanded by 1.4 per cent to $3,446.06, and Binance Coin (BNB) increased by 0.3 per cent to $704.55.

However, Litecoin (LTC) declined by 0.4 per cent to close at $105.11, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.

By Dipo Olowookere

The first trading session of 2025 on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited ended on a positive note, with a 0.25 per cent rise on Thursday.

This surge was influenced by buying pressure in the insurance, banking and consumer goods sectors, which closed higher during the session by 9.50 per cent, 0.27 per cent and 0.16 per cent, respectively.

Nigerian stocks were bullish yesterday despite a pocket of profit-taking in the energy and industrial goods counters, which lost 0.03 per cent and 0.02 per cent, respectively.

At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) was up by 253.74 points to 103,180.14 points from 102,926.40 points and the market capitalisation grew by N155 billion to N62.918 trillion from N62.763 trillion of the preceding trading session, which was on Tuesday.

At the resumption of trading activities on Thursday after a public holiday on Wednesday, Customs Street recorded 58 price gainers and eight price losers, indicating a positive market breadth index and strong investor sentiment.

NCR Nigeria, Cornerstone Insurance, RT Briscoe, Cutix, and International Energy Insurance gained 10.00 per cent each to sell for N5.50, N3.96, N2.75, N2.53, and N1.87, respectively.

On the flip side, Ellah Lakes lost 4.75 per cent to trade at N3.01, NASCON shed 4.31 per cent to finish at N30.00, CWG declined by 3.25 per cent to N7.45, Fidelity Bank slumped by 2.86 per cent to N17.00, and International Breweries crumbled by 0.90 per cent to N5.50.

Yesterday, investors bought and sold 829.8 million stocks valued at N5.7 billion in 11,752 deals versus the 437.8 million stocks worth N40.3 billion traded in 8,830 deals on Tuesday, representing a decline in the trading value by 85.86 per cent, a rise in the trading volume and number of deals by 89.54 per cent and 33.09 per cent, respectively.

Royal Exchange topped the activity chart with the sale of 291.0 million equities for N318.6 million, Chams transacted 63.7 million shares worth N130.1 million, AIICO Insurance traded 58.6 million stocks valued at N90.8 million, Veritas Kapital exchanged 43.4 million shares valued at N63.1 million, and Prestige Assurance sold 28.0 million equities worth N37.0 million.

By Adedapo Adesanya

Oil prices went up in the first trading session of the year, making a 2 per cent rise on Thursday, January 2 as investors eyed fresh pledges made on China’s economy and its likely effect on fuel demand, with Brent crude futures up by $1.65 or 2.2 per cent to $76.29 a barrel and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures climbing by $1.75 or 2.4 per cent to trade at $73.47 per barrel.

In 2024, China’s demand outlook largely affected the market but President Xi Jinping said in his New Year’s address that the world’s largest oil importer would implement more proactive policies to promote growth in 2025.

He said that the world’s second-largest economy had responded to the impacts of the economy by adopting a full range of policies such as broad rate cuts and easing rules in the property market to boost demand.

Also, data from the country supported prices after factory a Caixin/S&P Global survey showed on Thursday that activity grew in December to counter an earlier one which showed that China’s manufacturing activity barely grew in December.

However, services and construction fared better, with the data suggesting policy stimulus is trickling into some sectors.

This comes amid concerns about how tariffs proposed by US President-elect Donald Trump will affect trade.

Mr Trump will take office on January 20 and has promised to slam about 60 per cent on Chinese imports as part of his protectionist policies.

Some market analysts noted that weaker Chinese data could be positive for oil prices because it could prompt Beijing to accelerate its stimulus programme.

However, swelling fuel inventories in the US limited gains as the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) said US gasoline (petroleum) stocks swelled by 7.7 million barrels in the week to 231.4 million barrels, while ​distillate stockpiles, which include diesel and heating oil, increased by 6.4 million barrels in the week to 122.9 million barrels.

Meanwhile, crude stockpiles fell less than expected, decreasing by 1.2 million barrels to 415.6 million barrels.

In Europe, Russia halted gas pipeline exports through Ukraine on New Year’s Day after the transit agreement expired on December 31.

The European Union has arranged an alternative supply ahead of the widely expected stoppage while Hungary will keep receiving Russian gas via the TurkStream pipeline under the Black Sea.