By Adedapo Adesanya

The exchange rate of the Naira against the United States Dollar moved in different directions in the various segments of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Wednesday, January 8.

In the parallel market, the Nigerian currency appreciated against its American counterpart by N5 during the session to settle at N1,650/$1, in contrast to Tuesday’s closing value of N1,650/$1 after trading flat for over two sessions.

However, the local currency was not too lucky in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) segment as its value depreciated against the greenback at midweek by N4.67 or 0.3 per cent to quote at N1,541.70/$1 versus the preceding day’s N1,537.03/$1.

Business Post observed that it was the third straight session the domestic currency was losing value in the currency market this week.

Available data showed that the aggregate FX inflows into Nigeria increased by 41 per cent in the first 10 months of 2024 to $79.8 billion from $55.6 billion in the same period of 2023, as per the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through its Economic Report for October 2024.

The apex bank disclosed that in the period under consideration, the nation recorded a 1.4 per cent decline in aggregated FX outflows to $29.84 billion from the $30.29 billion posted in the first 10 months of 2023.

In the same official market, the Naira, however, appreciated against the Pound Sterling yesterday by N24.53 to sell for N1,899.62/£1 compared with the preceding session’s N1,924.15/£1 and against the Euro, it gained N10.11 to trade at N1,584.96/€1 versus Tuesday’s price of N1,595.07/€1.

As for the cryptocurrency market, it was bearish as macro jitters and the global bond rout accelerated the sell-off in crypto prices.

Strong US economic data, surging bond yields, and concerns about inflation and a hawkish Federal Reserve drove the risk-off sentiment, worsened by uncertainty around President-elect Donald Trump’s tariff policies.

Cardano (ADA) fell by 5.9 per cent to $0.9341, Dogecoin (DOGE) depreciated by 3.0 per cent to $0.3389, Bitcoin (BTC) slumped by 2.0 per cent to $94,540.80, Solana (SOL) depreciated by 1.2 per cent to $194.16, Litecoin (LTC) dropped 1.1 per cent to $101.99, and Ethereum (ETH) waned by 0.6 per cent to $3,329.38.

On the flip side, Ripple (XRP) added 1.7 per cent to close at $2.35, and Binance Coin (BNB) rose by 0.9 per cent to $698.63, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 apiece.

By Adedapo Adesanya

The prices of the crude oil grades went down on Wednesday as the US Dollar strengthened but continued to find support from a tightening of supplies from Russia and other members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

Fears of renewed inflationary pressure in the US, the world’s largest economy, grew leading to a stronger US Dollar, with Brent shedding 32 cents or 0.42 per cent to trade at $77.37 per barrel and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) losing 47 cents or 0.63 per cent to settle at $74.72 per barrel.

A stronger Dollar makes oil more expensive for holders of other currencies, weakening prices.

According to a Reuters survey, oil output from OPEC fell in December after two months of increases with field maintenance in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) offset a Nigerian output hike and gains elsewhere in the group.

Nigeria recorded a 50,000 barrels per day gain, bringing Africa’s largest oil producer daily average to 1.5 million barrels per day.

In Russia, oil output averaged 8.971 million barrels a day in December, below the country’s target.

There was a drop in US crude stocks as the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported an estimated inventory draw of 1 million barrels for the first week of 2025.

The authority also estimated builds in fuel inventories but both gasoline and diesel stocks remain below the five-year average.

The crude inventory draw compared with another modest of 1.2 million barrels for the last week of 2024, which was accompanied by substantial builds in gasoline (petrol) and middle distillates that failed to elicit a bearish response from the market at the time.

This is after the American Petroleum Institute (API) inventory reported crude oil stocks shed a sizable 4 million barrels in the first week of January. The API also estimated another round of hefty inventory builds in fuels.

Analysts expect oil prices to be on average down this year from 2024 due in part to production increases from non-OPEC countries.

Market analysts note that the market remains driven by expectations of this tighter global supply situation after US President-elect Mr Donald Trump takes office on January 20.

By Dipo Olowookere

The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited rebounded by 0.80 per cent on Wednesday after it shrank on Tuesday due to profit-taking by investors.

At midweek, bargain-hunting activities dominated as the market participants tried to mop up shares trading at cheaper prices for price appreciation in the coming sessions.

The banking counter gained 0.55 per cent, the consumer goods index appreciated by 0.09 per cent and the industrial goods space improved by 0.01 per cent, while the insurance and energy sectors went down by 0.27 per cent and 0.13 per cent, respectively.

When the bourse closed for the session, the All-Share Index (ASI) was up by 831.91 points to settle at 104,230.73 points compared with Tuesday’s 103,398.82 points and the market capitalisation increased by N508 billion to N63.559 trillion from N63.051 trillion.

MTN Nigeria was the best-performing equity on Customs Street yesterday as its value went up by 10.00 per cent to trade at N220.00, Transcorp also jumped by 10.00 per cent to N49.50, Honeywell Flour rose by 9.95 per cent to N8.29, AIICO Insurance gained 9.94 per cent to N1.88, and Living Trust Mortgage Bank expanded by 9.82 per cent to N4.81.

Conversely, the worst-performing equity was Sunu Assurances after it shed 9.99 per cent to end at N9.01, Universal Insurance declined by 8.97 per cent to 71 Kobo, Secure Electronic Technology depreciated by 68 Kobo, Consolidated Hallmark plunged by 5.82 per cent to N3.40, and C&I Leasing dropped 5.65 per cent to quote at N4.01.

Business Post reports that investor sentiment remained weak on Wednesday as the bourse closed with 27 price gainers and 28 price losers, indicating a negative market breadth index.

A total of 756.4 million stocks valued N24.7 million were transacted in 13,551 deals during the session versus the 1.1 billion stocks sold for N14.6 billion in 16,617 deals a day earlier, representing a leap in the trading value by 69.18 per cent and a cut in the trading volume and number of deals by 31.99 per cent and 18.45 per cent, respectively.

FBN Holdings was still the busiest stock yesterday after selling 125.7 million units valued at N3.6 billion, as Tantalizers traded 82.4 million units worth N195.8 million, Universal Insurance sold 56.6 million units for N40.6 million, AIICO Insurance exchanged 54.3 million units worth N101.1 million, and Chams transacted 33.2 million units valued at N72.5 million.