By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira was relatively stable against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Wednesday, July 30, after declining for three straight sessions.

Yesterday, it depreciated by 3 Kobo against the greenback in the official market to sell for N1,366.73/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,366.71/$1.

It also depreciated against the Pound Sterling in the same market segment during the session by N18.47 to quote at N1,834.29/£1 compared with the preceding session’s N1,815.82/£1, and lost N17.65 on the Euro to close at N1,572.97/€1, in contrast to Wednesday’s closing rate of N1,555.32/€1.

At the parallel market, the Nigerian Naira maintained stability against the US Dollar on Thursday at N1,400/$1, and also at the GTBank forex desk, it traded flat at N1,370/$1.

The Nigerian currency witnessed a slight pressure yesterday, as demand for FX by financial institutions impacted the trajectory of the local currency, with some unable to clear their bids.

The interbank FX turnover fell below the previous day’s record, settling at $58.423 million, representing more than a 4.2 per cent decline from $61.034 million reported the previous day.

Also, the number of deals executed by financial institutions acting as market makers at the NFEM window fell by 71, from 86 previously recorded.

The latest update from the CBN showed that Nigeria’s foreign reserves declined further, settling at $51.922 billion from $51.938 billion the previous day.

Meanwhile, major cryptocurrencies rebounded following a powerful rebound in global equity and chip stocks, as investors saw a boost in the Asian market as South Korea’s Kospi index surged as much as 17 per cent, led by big gains in Samsung, SK Hynix and Taiwan Semiconductor after a sharp two-week selloff.

In the US, there was the largest rally in chip stocks in more than a year, with the Nasdaq 100 snapping a six-day losing streak. Amazon rose nearly 10 per cent after hours on strong cloud earnings, while Apple fell 6 per cent as supply shortages hit its sales forecast.

Cardano (ADA) appreciated by 4.1 per cent to $0.1691, Binance Coin (BNB) grew by 3.4 per cent to $591.74, Solana (SOL) jumped by 1.1 per cent to $74.34, Ripple (XRP) rose by 0.8 per cent to $1.08, and Bitcoin (BTC) added 0.7 per cent to sell at $64,432.11.

Further, TRON (TRX) improved by 0.6 per cent to $0.3284, Dogecoin (DOGE) soared by 0.5 per cent to $0.0712, and Ethereum (ETH) climbed 0.3 to $1,907.80, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.

By Dipo Olowookere

The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited shed 0.66 per cent on Thursday, driven primarily by sell-offs in financial stocks.

During the session, the insurance counter depreciated by 2.26 per cent, the banking space dropped 2.04 per cent, the consumer goods index tumbled by 1.18 per cent, and the industrial goods sector gave up 0.70 per cent. They offset the 0.01 per cent leap recorded by the energy segment at the close of business.

Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) moderated by 1,617.91 points to 245,362.26 points from the previous day’s 246,980.17 points, and the market capitalisation retreated by N1.005 trillion to N158.340 trillion from Wednesday’s N159.345 trillion.

The worst-performing equity was Tripple Gee, which crashed by 10.00 per cent to N2.88. Lasaco Assurance declined by 9.92 per cent to N2.18, C&I Leasing slumped by 9.84 per cent to N5.50, Mutual Benefits depreciated by 9.80 per cent to N3.22, and Trans-Nationwide Express decreased by 9.03 per cent to N2.82.

The best-performing equity was Legend Internet, which chalked up 8.64 per cent to close at N4.40. DAAR Communications advanced by 7.32 per cent to N1.76, Sterling Holdings grew by 6.67 per cent to N8.00, Sovereign Trust Insurance expanded by 5.73 per cent to N2.03, and Royal Exchange soared by 4.69 per cent to N1.34.

Trading activity yesterday improved when compared with midweek’s, with the volume of trades up by 176.72 per cent to 2.1 billion shares from the 758.9 million shares recorded a day earlier. The value of transactions increased by 582.84 per cent to N230.8 billion from N33.8 billion, and the number of deals shrank by 12.71 per cent to 48,231 deals from the 55,251 deals executed on Wednesday.

First Holdco was the busiest stock for the day, with a turnover of 1.6 billion units valued at N196.2 billion, Access Holdings sold 37.4 million units for N998.5 million, Sterling Holdings exchanged 36.0 million units worth N286.8 million, Ellah Lakes transacted 34.8 million units for N297.8 million, and Zenith Bank traded 33.1 million units valued at N4.0 billion.

By Adedapo Adesanya

The oil market settled lower by 1 per cent on Thursday as traders digested proposed plans for a Saudi Arabia-led maritime coalition to boost defence cooperation around the Red Sea.

Brent futures slipped by $1.71 or 1.88 per cent to $89.03 a barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures declined by 87 cents or 1.03 per cent to trade at $83.59 per barrel.

Saudi Arabia seeks to lead a coalition to ‌boost defence cooperation in the Bab El-Mandeb Strait, the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

The Saudi defence ministry said 14 states, including Turkey, Pakistan, Egypt, Sudan and Djibouti, have issued a joint statement in support of the proposed multinational maritime defence coalition.

This comes after Iran-aligned Houthi ​militants in Yemen declared a naval blockade last week on Saudi Arabia, threatening the Red Sea route for its oil exports, an alternative ⁠to the largely blockaded Strait of Hormuz. The strait, which normally handles around a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas flows, ​has remained a focal point for oil markets since the US and Israel launched the war on Iran on February 28.

Houthis had attacked Saudi Arabia ​this week from Iraqi territory in coordination with Iraqi armed groups, reflecting growing ​coordination among Iran-aligned militias, ⁠two officials in the region said. The attacks included strikes on oil facilities in Saudi Arabia’s eastern province, the kingdom’s main crude hub.

Iran and Oman also continued talks on the management of the Strait of Hormuz, after Iran previously ruled out Oman’s proposal for regional joint management of the waterway.

It also denied that it is negotiating with US officials and gave no sign that it was ready to make new concessions over its effective closure of the strait.

Meanwhile, the US military said it had hit dozens of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targets in Iran in an operation launched after it fired ballistic missiles at U.S. forces in the Middle East.

Fresh supply worries also emerged after tankers loading at the Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC) terminal headed away from the Black Sea after a vessel was hit during loading at the terminal on Thursday.

A Ukrainian drone ⁠attack caused a ​fire at Lukoil’s Perm refinery that damaged and forced the shutdown of one of its crude distillation units.