By Dipo Olowookere

The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited returned to winning ways on Wednesday after a brief detour to the bears to book profit.

At midweek, the local bourse rebounded by 0.48 per cent following renewed bargain-hunting in energy sector, which closed higher by 3.21 per cent at the close of transactions.

In addition, the insurance counter appreciated yesterday by 1.60 per cent, and the industrial goods space gained 0.81 per cent on the back of buying interest in Lafarge Africa, which attracted a new investor recently.

However, the consumer goods and the banking counters witnessed profit-taking during the session to leave their respective indices lower at 0.17 per cent and 0.07 per cent, respectively.

When the closing gong was struck by 2:30 pm on Wednesday, the All-Share Index (ASI) was down by 472.43 points to 98,174.99 points from 97,702.56 points and the market capitalisation depleted by N286 billion to N59.512 trillion from Tuesday’s N59.226 trillion.

Business Post reports that Customs Street finished with 42 price gainers and 21 price losers yesterday, implying a positive market breadth index and strong sentiment.

Golden Guinea Breweries appreciated by 9.83 per cent to N4.47, Thomas Wyatt improved by 9.83 per cent to N1.90, FTN Cocoa gained 9.50 per cent to sell for N1.96, Deap Capital grew by 9.43 per cent to N1.16, and NEM Insurance rose by 9.30 per cent to N9.40.

However, Sunu Assurances slumped by 9.85 per cent to N4.21, Learn Africa plunged by 9.85 per cent to N2.93, Haldane McCall tumbled by 9.15 per cent to N5.86, PZ Cussons crashed by 8.71 per cent to N22.00, and Sterling Holdings slipped by 7.16 per cent to N4.41.

Equity traders bought and sold 521.9 million stocks valued at N19.9 billion in 9,420 deals compared with the 1.2 billion stocks worth N27.4 billion traded in 9,403 deals a day earlier, indicating a jump in the number of deals by 0.18 per cent and a drop in the trading volume and value by 54.86 per cent and 27.37 per cent, respectively.

The most active equity at midweek was Tantalizers with a turnover of 88.3 million units sold for N108.3 million, Lafarge Africa transacted 57.2 million units valued at N4.2 billion, Access Holdings traded 41.0 million units worth N986.5 million, Cutix exchanged 37.1 million units valued at N85.4 million, and UBA traded 34.0 million units worth N1.1 billion.

By Adedapo Adesanya

Oil prices fell by nearly 2 per cent on Wednesday as investors awaited an imminent decision on production cuts by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+).

OPEC+ will meet on Thursday and the latest signal is that the 22-member alliance is likely to extend output cuts until the end of the first quarter of next year.

The group has been aiming to unwind output cuts through 2025 but a slowdown in global demand and rising output outside the group pose hurdles to that plan and have weighed on prices, as Brent crude futures shrank by $1.31 or 1.78 per cent to $72.31 a barrel and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures depreciated by $1.40 or 2 per cent to $68.54 per barrel.

OPEC+ members have cut around 5.86 million barrels per day of output, or about 5.7 per cent of global demand, in a series of steps agreed since 2022 to support the market.

An output hike of 180,000 barrels per day was planned for January from the eight members involved in OPEC+’s most recent cuts of 2.2 million barrels per day. The hike has been delayed from October due to falling prices.

Meanwhile, crude oil prices moved higher today after the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported an inventory decline of 5.1 million barrels for the week to November 29.

The change compared with a build of 1.23 million barrels for the week, as estimated by the American Petroleum Institute a day earlier. It also compared with an EIA-estimated draw of 1.8 million barrels for the prior week.

The authority also reported builds in fuel inventories for the period.

In gasoline (petrol), the EIA estimated an inventory build of 2.4 million barrels for the final week of November, compared with a build of 3.3 million barrels for the previous week.

Tensions across several countries also weighed on prices. In Syria, rebel forces that threatened to draw in forces from several oil-producing countries all lent support to oil prices.

In the Middle East, Israel said on Tuesday it would return to war with Hezbollah if their truce collapses and that its attacks would go deeper into Lebanon and target the state itself.

In South Korea, lawmakers have submitted a bill to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol after his declaration of martial law on Tuesday, which was reversed within hours, sparking a political crisis in Asia’s fourth-largest economy.

Demand pressure continued despite the recent stronger-than-expected factory activity data out of China.

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira appreciated on the US Dollar at the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) by 1.8 per cent or N29.54 on Tuesday, December 3.

At the official market yesterday, the exchange rate stood at N1,643.15/$1, in contrast to Monday’s closing price of N1,672.69/$1, according to data obtained by Business Post from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Also, the Nigerian currency traded flat against the greenback during the session at N1,730/$1.

This development followed the launch of the apex bank-backed Electronic Foreign Exchange Matching System (EFEMS), which began operations this week.

The implementation of the forex system comes with diverse implications for all segments of the financial markets that deal with FX, including an expected rebound in the value of the Naira across markets.

The system is expected to instantly reflect data on all FX transactions conducted in the interbank market and approved by the CBN.

The central bank also said it would publish real-time prices and buy-sell orders data from this system.

Meanwhile, Nigeria has successfully raised $2.2 billion in Eurobonds maturing in 2031 and 2034 in the international capital markets to finance deficits from the 2024 budget.

The Debt Management Office (DMO) said that the two Eurobonds, with 6.5 years and ten years tenors, have $700 million placed in the 2031 maturity, and $1.5 billion placed in the 2034 maturity.

It said that the notes were priced at a coupon and re-offer yield of 9.625 per cent and 10.375 per cent, respectively.

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was majorly positive, with Binance Coin (BNB) growing by 18.1 per cent to an all-time high (ATH) price of $774.92 amid a mix of technical signs and bullish market sentiment.

Further, Solana (SOL) jumped by 4.2 per cent to trade at $236.64, Ethereum (ETH) gained 2.8 per cent to settle at $3,716.76, Litecoin (LTC) expanded by 2.5 per cent to finish at $132.16, Bitcoin (BTC) appreciated by 1.0 per cent to $96,567.61, Dogecoin (DOGE) increased by 0.9 per cent to $0.4208, and Ripple (XRP) rose by 0.2 per cent to $2.63.

However, Cardano (ADA) depreciated by 2.7 per cent to sell at $1.23, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.