Economy
US, China Sluggish Energy Outlook Depress Oil Prices
By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil prices fell further on Thursday touching a six-month low, as investors worried about sluggish energy demand in the United States and China.
Brent crude futures dropped 48 cents to $73.82 a barrel and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell by 33 cents to $69.05 per barrel, with both benchmarks posting their lowest prices since late June.
Analysts noted that the largest global importer of oil, China, is shuttering its interests in crude and this has created pressure on prices.
Chinese customs data showed that crude oil imports in November fell 9 per cent from a year earlier as high inventory levels, weak economic indicators, and slowing orders from independent refiners weakened demand.
While China’s total imports dropped month-on-month, its exports rose in the month for the first time in six months, suggesting an uptick in global trade flows may be helping the manufacturing sector.
However, ratings agency, Moody’s, put many of China’s state-owned companies and banks on downgrade warnings on Wednesday, a day after it put a downgrade warning on China’s sovereign credit rating.
This is happening as the largest producer, the United States, continues with headline output as output remained near record highs of over 13 million barrels per day, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) data showed on Wednesday.
US gasoline stocks rose by 5.4 million barrels last week to 223.6 million barrels, the EIA said, more than 500 per cent higher than the 1 million barrel build that had been expected.
Prices have failed to be propped up by moves made by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and allies, OPEC+, which last week announced a combined 2.2 million barrels per day in voluntary output cuts for the first quarter of next year.
In fact, oil prices have fallen by about 10 per cent since the announcement indicating that the market seems to be suggesting that they don’t believe OPEC+ can follow through on their cuts.
Saudi Arabia and Russia, the two biggest oil exporters, on Thursday called for all OPEC+ members to join an agreement on output cuts for the good of the global economy.
Russian President, Mr Vladimir Putin, and Saudi Crown Prince, Mr Mohammed bin Salman, met on Wednesday to discuss further oil price cooperation, while OPEC+ member Algeria said it would not rule out extending or deepening oil supply cuts.
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited began the new week bearish after it shed 0.21 per cent on Monday due to profit-taking.
Business Post reports that four of the five key sectors of Customs Street tracked pointed southwards yesterday, as only the energy index gained 0.10 per cent.
The insurance counter lost 1.38 per cent, the banking space depreciated by 0.81 per cent, the industrial goods sector weakened by 0.45 per cent, and the consumer goods segment declined by 0.02 per cent.
As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) retreated by 428.63 points to 200,484.43 points from 200,913.06 points, and the market capitalisation moderated by N275 billion to N128.694 trillion from N128.969 trillion.
The market breadth index was negative during the session, as there were 27 price gainers and 34 price losers, representing weak investor sentiment.
Secure Electronic Technology depreciated by 10.00 per cent to N1.17, May and Baker slumped by 9.42 per cent to N38.00, Legend Internet tumbled by 8.67 per cent to N6.85, Cutix shrank by 8.29 per cent to N3.21, and Fortis Global Insurance lost 7.97 per cent to trade at N1.27.
On the flip side, Austin Laz appreciated by 9.98 per cent to N4.41, Zichis gained 9.93 per cent to quote at N15.16, Trans Nationwide Express soared by 9.65 per cent to N2.84, The Initiates advanced by 9.60 per cent to N21.70, and Learn Africa improved by 9.41 per cent to N9.30.
The bourse closed with a turnover of 593.3 million shares valued at N25.7 billion executed in 60,311 deals compared with the 595.2 million shares worth N24.5 billion traded in 43,440 deals in the previous trading day.
This showed that the value of transactions went up by 4.90 per cent, the number of deals increased by 38.84 per cent, and the volume of trades decreased by 0.32 per cent.
Access Holdings finished the session as the most active with 86.6 million units sold for N2.3 billion, First Holdco exchanged 84.6 million units worth N4.3 billion, Secure Electronic Technology traded 31.1 million units valued at N37.4 million, Fidelity Bank transacted 26.7 million units worth N512.4 million, and Zenith Bank traded 26.1 million units valued at N2.6 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The first trading session for the Naira in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) ended on a negative note, as it lost N3.00 or 0.22 per cent against the Dollar on Monday, March 30, to trade at N1,383.58/$1 compared with last Friday’s closing price of N1,380.58/$1.
The local currency remains under pressure as increased demand for forex for international settlements and import-related obligations continue t0 strain available FX supply.
Last week, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) shed the policy requiring International Oil Companies (IOCs) to keep half of their export proceeds in Nigeria and allowed them to fully access their funds. Market analysts noted that this could reduce the dollar supply, putting pressure on the nation’s legal tender whenever outflows exceed inflows.
The country’s external reserves recorded a marginal decline, falling by 0.7 per cent to $49.48 billion, reflecting a depletion of about $350 million and signalling continued pressure on Nigeria’s FX buffer.
However, the Nigerian currency further appreciated against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N12.05 to N1,824.94/£1 from N1,836.99/£1, and gained N5.80 against the Euro to sell at N1,586.28/€1 versus N1,592.08/€1.
Equally, at the GTBank forex desk, the Naira improved its value against the greenback yesterday by N7 to N1,394/$1 from N1,401/$1, and remained unchanged at the parallel market at N1,410/$1.
As for the cryptocurrency market, it was mixed even as Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell eased any concerns about imminent rate hikes.
The central banker said the lender is inclined to look past the Iran-related energy shock for now and hold rates steady, adding that the US central bank — for the moment — is looking past short-term oil price shocks and focusing on inflation expectations that remain “well anchored.” As a result, bond yields fell, but oil continued its rise, ultimately pressuring the stock market and crypto.
Solana (SOL) gained 1.1 per cent to sell at $82.68, Ethereum (ETH) appreciated by 1.0 per cent to $2,021.66, Cardano (ADA) grew by 1.0 per cent to $0.2431, Ripple (XRP) jumped 0.2 per cent to $1.32, and Bitcoin (BTC) added 0.1 per cent to settle at $66,568.25.
However, TRON (TRX) dipped 1.0 per cent to $0.3199, Dogecoin (DOGE) went down by 0.2 per cent to $0.0909, and Binance Coin (BNB) dropped 0.1 per cent to $609.25, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The deadline for filing income tax returns for the 2025 fiscal year has been extended by the Lagos State Internal Revenue Service (LIRS) by two weeks.
The Head of Corporate Communications for LIRS, Mrs Monsurat Amasa-Oyelude, in a statement on Monday, said the new deadline is April 14, 2026, and no longer March 31, 2026.
The tax filing is for individuals living in the metropolis, and they have been charged to give priority to the timely filing of their annual income tax returns, noting that compliance should be embedded as a routine personal practice.
The chairman of LIRS, Mr Ayodele Subair, explained that the statutory deadline for filing individual annual tax returns is March 31 every year, adding that the extension is intended to provide individuals with additional time to complete and submit accurate tax returns.
He also reiterated that electronic filing through the LIRS eTax platform remains the only approved method for submitting annual returns, as manual filings have been completely phased out. Individuals are therefore required to file their returns exclusively through the LIRS eTax portal: https://etax.lirs.net.
Describing the platform as secure, user-friendly, and accessible 24/7, Mr Subair advised individuals to ensure that their TaxID (Tax Identification Number) is correctly captured in their submissions.
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