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.

By Adedapo Adesanya

Nigeria raised its crude oil production by 50,000 barrels per day to around 1.5 million barrels per day in December 2024, according to the latest output survey by Reuters.

The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) had said the country’s oil output rose to 1.48 million barrels per day in November from 1.33 million barrels per day in the previous month.

With the latest addition, this has brought the output count of Africa’s largest oil producer to 1.5 million barrels per day.

The Reuters survey – based on flows data from financial group LSEG, Kpler, OPEC and other sources – found that Nigeria exceeded its target by the largest amount.

It added that the production boost in the final month of last year came as a result of higher domestic usage in refineries such as Dangote and higher exports.

Business Post reports that about 395,000 barrels per day of crude oil were delivered to the Dangote Refinery in December under the crude-for-Naira deal with the federal government.

Also, Nigeria said in December it had resumed some operations at its Warri refinery after years of shutdowns.

The general OPEC basket pumped 26.46 million barrels per day last month, down 50,000 barrels per day from November, the survey showed on Tuesday, with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) providing the biggest drop (90,000 barrels per day) because of field maintenance followed by Iran which fell by 70,000 barrels per day.

The modest decline in output came as the wider OPEC+ group kept production cuts in place in December due to global demand concerns and rising output outside the group.

OPEC’s top two producers, Saudi Arabia and Iraq, kept output steady and the group pumped below its implied target for the nine members covered by supply agreements. Libya and Venezuela are exempted.

OPEC+ decided last month to postpone its plan to start raising output until April 2025.

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

In the first 10 months of 2024, the aggregate foreign exchange (FX) inflows into Nigeria increased by 41 per cent on a year-on-year basis to $79.8 billion from $55.6 billion in the same period of the preceding year.

This information was revealed by 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.

As for the net forex inflows, it rose by 65.7 per cent to $46.92 billion from $28.31 billion in the corresponding period of 2023, with inflows from autonomous sources growing by 0.06 per cent to $35.82 billion from $34.4 billion, outflows from autonomous sources expanding by 195 per cent to $7.08 billion from $2.4 billion, and the net forex inflows from autonomous sources jumped by 73 per cent to $39.7 billion from $22.93 billion.

“Foreign exchange flows through the economy amounted to a net inflow of $4.86 billion, relative to $6.35 billion in September 2024. Aggregate foreign exchange inflow increased to $9.15 billion, from $8.59 billion in the preceding month.

“Similarly, foreign exchange outflow increased to $4.29 billion, from $2.24 billion in the preceding month.

“Foreign exchange inflow through the bank declined to $4.48 billion, from $5.22 billion in the preceding month, while autonomous inflow increased to $4.67 billion, from $3.37 billion in the preceding month.

“Outflow through the bank rose to $3.73 billion, from $1.84 billion, while autonomous outflow fell to $0.56 billion, from $0.40 billion in September 2024.

“Consequently, a net inflow of $4.11 billion was recorded through autonomous sources compared with $2.97 billion in September 2024, while the bank recorded a net inflow of $0.75 billion, relative to $3.38 billion in the preceding month,” parts of the report said.

It was also revealed that the CBN inflows soared by 55 per cent between January 2024 and October 2024 to $32.94 billion from $21.25 billion in the same period of the previous year, as outflows through the central bank shrank by 1.11 per cent to $25.74 billion from $26.03 billion, leaving the net FX inflow up by 556.8 per cent to $7.16 billion from -$1.09 billion.