Economy
Analysts Foresee Brent Crashing to $55 Per Barrel This Week
By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil prices had their major test last week as the spread of the coronavirus continued, letting loose bears into the global oil market, with major futures dropping over $3 per barrel.
With drop in demand continuing, affected and unaffected countries have isolated citizens evacuated from the Chinese city of Wuhan in order to curb the contagious epidemic.
There have been restrictions on travel too with over 360 people killed and over 17,000 affected. With figures expected to continue to rise, there are serious worries on the impact this disease will have on the world’s second-biggest economy as well as the global markets.
Multinationals are already closing their operations in China. Last week, the British Airways suspended certain flights to China as travel warnings issued by governments made passenger numbers drop.
Last week, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting (OPEC) disclosed that it was considering holding an emergency meeting in February as prices hit worrying levels.
According to the Algerian Energy Minister, Mr Mohamed Arkab, the producer group’s meeting earlier scheduled for March 2020 is likely to be moved to February, adding that a decision may be taken in the coming days.
This was backed up by Russian Energy Minister, Mr Alexander Novak, who said on Friday that his country was ready to bring forward a meeting of OPEC and its allies to February from March to address a possible hit to global oil demand from the virus.
Mr Novak said he was in discussions with OPEC leader, Saudi Arabia, and that the oil-producing nations would need several more days to assess the impact and decide on the date of the meeting.
OPEC’s oil output fell in January to the lowest since 2009 after several members led by Saudi Arabia over-delivered on a new agreement to cut production and as Libya’s supply slumped, its first monthly report revealed.
With the date for the OPEC+ meeting expected to be confirmed this week, many pointers show that improvement are not expected anytime soon as the coronavirus continues to shut down factories, and therefore production.
With the outbreak having a comparable effect as the SARS which occurred in 2003, the demand for oil in China is likely to reduce by roughly 400,000 barrels per day and being a primary importer of the commodity, this will be felt.
Expectations early in the week are for the Brent Crude to trade down at $55 per barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) could touch $50 per barrel.
As at the time of this report, Brent was trading down by 21 cents or 0.37 percent to $56.41 per barrel, while the WTI crude was up 11 cents or 0.21 percent to settle at $51.67 per barrel.
Economy
BNB Price Reflects Changing Dynamics in the Digital Asset Market
Economy
NASD Unlisted Security Index Crosses 4,000-point Benchmark Again
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange achieved a milestone on Friday, April 24, 2026, after five securities on the platform helped with a 1.85 per cent growth.
Data showed that the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) again crossed the 4,000-point benchmark yesterday.
The index chalked up 73.64 points during the trading day to close at 4,052.59 points compared with the preceding session’s 3,978.95 points, while the market capitalisation added N5.38 billion to finish at N2.424 trillion versus Thursday’s closing value of N2.380 trillion.
The price gainers were led by Okitipupa Plc, which grew by N25.00 to sell at N305.00 per share compared with the previous price of N280.00 per share. Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc gained N6.92 to close at N76.26 per unit versus N69.34 per unit, Afriland Properties Plc appreciated by N1.00 to N17.00 per share from N18.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc improved by 55 Kobo to N99.55 per unit from N99.00 per unit, and Food Concepts Plc increased by 5 Kobo to N2.70 per share from N2.65 per share.
However, there was a price loser, MRS Oil, which dipped by N21.75 to N195.75 per unit from N217.50 per unit.
During the final session of the week, the value of securities jumped 75.2 per cent to N41.3 million from N23.6 million units, and the number of deals expanded by 62.9 per cent to 44 deals from 27 deals, while the volume of securities declined marginally by 0.9 per cent to 447,403 units from 451,522 units.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc was the most traded stock by volume (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, trailed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units traded for N1.2 billion.
GNI was also the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 59.6 million units transacted for N4.0 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.8 million units exchanged for N1.9 billion.
Economy
Naira Slips to N1,358/$1 as FX Reserves, Policy Uncertainty Concerns
By Adedapo Adesanya
It was not a good day for the Nigerian Naira in the currency market on Friday, April 24, as its value depreciated against the major foreign currencies at the close of transactions.
In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX), it lost N4.53 or 0.33 per cent against the United States Dollar yesterday to trade at N1,358.44/$1, in contrast to the N1,353.91/$1 it was exchanged on Thursday.
Equally, the domestic currency slipped against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N8.14 to close at N1,834.02/£1, compared with the previous rate of N1,825.88/£1 and dropped N8.01 against the Euro to sell at N1,590.73/€1 versus N1,582.72/€1.
Also, the Naira depreciated against the US Dollar at the GTBank FX desk on Friday by N4 to quote at N1,370/$1 compared with the previous session’s N1,366/$1, and at the parallel market, it depleted by N5 to settle at N1,380/$1 versus the preceding day’s N1,375/$1.
Data published by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) indicated that NFEM interbank turnover surged to N43.562 million across 68 deals, up from N28.117 million the previous day.
Despite the CBN’s reassurance that the recent drop in external reserves is not worrisome, the market remains unsettled by persistent concerns over liquidity constraints, policy transparency, and weakening confidence in Nigeria’s FX market as gross reserves continue to decline to $48.4 billion.
The outlook for the Dollar appears supported by broader macro risks, including elevated oil prices tied to the tanker traffic disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and a continued US-Iran standoff over ceasefire negotiations.
A look at the digital currency market showed that investors are sitting on the edge as the US Dollar rebounded amid geopolitical and inflation risks despite continued inflows into US spot bitcoin Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).
Solana (SOL) rose by 1.2 per cent to sell $86.45, Cardano (ADA) appreciated by 1.1 per cent to $0.2517, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 0.9 per cent to $0.0989, Ripple (XRP) improved by 0.3 per cent to $1.43, Ethereum (ETH) soared by 0.2 per cent to $2,316.83, and Binance Coin (BNB) chalked up 0.1 per cent to sell for $637.44.
However, TRON (TRX) depreciated by 1.3 per cent to $0.3235, and Bitcoin (BTC) lost 0.2 per cent to close at $77,562.27, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.
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