Economy
Oil Prices up on Possible Limited Supply From Fresh Sanctions
By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil prices went up on Tuesday, driven by concerns over limited supply from Russia and Iran because of Western sanctions and expected higher Chinese demand, with Brent crude futures increasing by 75 cents or 0.98 per cent to $77.05 per barrel and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures grew by 69 cents or 0.94 per cent to $74.25 a barrel.
The US on Tuesday ramped up sanctions on Iran, targeting 35 entities and vessels it said carried illicit Iranian petroleum to foreign markets as part of what the US Treasury Department called Tehran’s “shadow fleet.”
The sanctions build on those imposed on October 11 and come in response to Iran’s October 1 attack on Israel and to its announced nuclear escalations, the Treasury Department said in a statement.
The move generally prohibits US individuals or entities from doing business with the targets and freezes US-held assets.
Meanwhile, cold weather in the US and Europe boosted heating oil demand, though oil price gains were capped by global economic data.
Eurozone inflation accelerated in December, an expected blip that is unlikely to derail further interest rate cuts from the European Central Bank.
Market analysts noted that the higher inflation in Germany raised suggestions the European Central Bank (ECB) may not be able to cut rates as fast as hoped across the bloc.
Market participants await more economic data, including the US December non-farm payrolls report on Friday.
On the supply end, a member of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies, OPEC+, South Sudan, will resume oil production on Wednesday after Sudan lifted the force majeure on the pipeline route through Sudan and onto Port Sudan on the Red Sea.
Earlier this month, Sudan lifted the 10-month-long force majeure on the oil flows from landlocked South Sudan through its neighbor to the north, Sudan, following new security arrangements and improved security conditions.
In March 2024, Sudan declared force majeure on crude oil exports from its South Sudan, following a major rupture in the pipeline carrying crude from South Sudan to the port in Sudan in an area with active military activity.
The American Petroleum Institute (API) estimated that crude oil inventories in the United fell by 4.022 million barrels for the week ending January 3. For the week prior, the API reported a draw of 1.442-million-barrel in US crude oil inventories in the midst of build season.
In 2024, crude oil inventories dropped by more than 12 million barrels, according to the API’s inventory data.
By Dipo Olowookere
A popular stock trading platform in Nigeria, Yochaa, has informed its customers of a planned disruption in service this weekend.
In a notice, the company said it was carrying out “a major upgrade to our mobile app” between 5 pm of Friday, January 10, 2025, and 10 pm of Sunday, January 12, 2025.
It explained that the decision to upgrade its mobile trading platform was “part of our commitment to improving your experience and the quality of our services.”
“This upgrade is part of our efforts to deliver a more seamless, secure, and efficient experience for you.
“Once completed, you can look forward to improved service reliability and enhanced features to better support your investment journey,” the firm said.
During this period, “Deposits and withdrawals for NGN wallets will be unavailable” and there would be “limited access to portfolio and tracker services.”
In the statement seen by Business Post, Yochaa, however, said, “All US services, including deposits and withdrawals, will remain fully operational.”
It added that, “All Yochaa Lounge services including Yochaa Investment Assistant, will remain fully operational,” noting that, “While some services will be limited, you’ll still be able to access your account, monitor your portfolio, and trade on US markets without interruption.”
“We appreciate your understanding as we work to serve you better. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to reach out to our support team,” Yochaa stated.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange depreciated by 0.02 per cent on Wednesday, January 8 following mild profit-taking by market participants, who showed a sign of panic trading.
This resulted in a marginal decline in the market capitalisation by N560 million to N1.056 trillion, the same value of the preceding trading session, as the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) slid by 0.18 points to wrap the session at 3,081.91 points compared with 3,082.47 points recorded at the previous session.
Business Post reports that Geo-Fluids Plc suffered a decline of 4 Kobo at midweek to sell at N4.85 per share versus the previous session’s N4.89 per share, and Afriland Properties Plc lost 12 Kobo to close at N16.00 per unit, in contrast to Tuesday’s closing price of N16.12 per unit.
However, the price of First Trust Microfinance Bank Plc increased by 3 Kobo yesterday to settle at 37 Kobo per share compared with the previous day’s value of 34 Kobo per share.
There was a 5,943.8 per cent surge in the volume of securities traded in the session as investors exchanged 3.6 million units compared to 59,432 units traded in the preceding session and the value of shares traded yesterday increased by 1,641.7 per cent to N36.6 million from the N2.1 million achieved a day earlier, while the number of deals carried out went up by 133.3 per cent to 14 deals from six deals.
At the close of transactions, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc was the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 1.9 million units valued at N74.2 million, followed by 11 Plc with 12,963 units worth N3.2 million, and Industrial and General Insurance (IGI )Plc with 10.7 million units sold for N2.1 million.
But the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) was IGI Plc with 10.6 million units worth N2.1 million, trailed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 1.9 million units sold for N74.2 million, and Acorn Petroleum Plc followed with 1.2 million units valued at N1.9 million.
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.
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