Asian Shares Gain as Tech Stocks Post Strong Earnings

By Adedapo Adesanya The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange appreciated by 0.41 per cent in Week 48, with the market capitalisation gaining N4.77 billion to settle at N1.166 trillion from the N1.162 trillion it ended in Week 47, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) rising by 3.52 points to 860.81 points from 857.29 points in the previous week. In the five-day trading week, the total volume of stocks traded slumped by 69.1 per cent to 4.22 million units from 13.6 million in the preceding week and equally, the value of shares dropped by 69.6 per cent to N41.4 million

By Adedapo Adesanya The Naira started the first trading session in the last month of 2023 on a negative note after it depreciated against the Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), which is the official FX window, by 11.4 per cent or N94.87 on Friday, December 1, closing at N927.19/$1, in contrast to Thursday’s exchange rate of N832.32/$1. The December rush for forex contributed to the weakening of the domestic currency in the spot market yesterday, as the supply of foreign currency could not meet what customers needed. Data showed that the value of FX transactions recorded

By Adedapo Adesanya Oil slumped by more than 2 per cent on Friday as traders showed scepticism about the depth of supply cuts by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) as well as concerns about sluggish global manufacturing activity. Brent crude went down by $1.98 or 2.45 per cent to close at $78.88 a barrel as the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude dropped $1.89 or 2.49 per cent to sell for $74.07 a barrel. For the week, Brent posted a decline of about 2.1 per cent, while WTI lost more than 1.9 per cent.

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Strong inflationary pressures in November further negatively impacted companies in Nigeria, with new orders and output both falling as customers were either reluctant or unable to pay higher charges. Purchase prices rose at the fastest pace in almost two years amid exchange rate weakness and higher costs for fuel and materials. According to the latest Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) from Stanbic IBTC, business conditions remained under pressure, scoring 48.0 points last month compared with the 49.1 points it garnered in October 2023. Readings above 50.0 signal an improvement in business conditions, while readings below 50.0 show deterioration.

Relish the nostalgic moments of the 2022/2023 Premier League season, experience the excitement of the PL 30 Africa XI Gala Dinner, where legendary African football icons who have made their mark in the Premier League were honoured and celebrated and don’t miss out on the thrilling off-season football showdown as teams from Nigeria’s local league battle it out for a grand prize of N25 million in the Naija Super 8 tournament all showing this week. Here are the major sports programme highlights. PL 30 Africa XI SuperSport has just unveiled the prestigious Premier League greatest Africa XI, and you can

By Aduragbemi Omiyale President Bola Tinubu will on Wednesday, September 20, 2023, ring the closing bell of the NASDAQ in New York, United States. He will get the honour of closing trading activities on the American stock exchange as part of proceedings at the Executive Business Dialogue organised by the United States Chamber of Commerce (USCoC), the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Group Plc, and the Nigerian Investment Promotion Council (NIPC). Mr Tinubu will be in the US for the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) with some government organisations, including the NIPC, which is organising a series of events in the non-deal

By Dipo Olowookere It was a dark day for residents of Ifaki Ekiti under the Ido/Osi Local Government Area of Ekiti State as some armed hoodlums invaded the community, killing a mobile policeman during an attack on a branch of First Bank in the area. The ugly incident threw the peaceful town into pandemonium as bullets were reportedly flying around as the robbers unleashed terror on the community. It was said that the operation lasted for several minutes and security operatives were not allegedly on ground to bring the situation under control. The attack came barely two weeks after some

By Dipo Olowookere A funding package worth N3 billion was granted to Jaiz Bank Plc on Tuesday by the Bank of Industry (BoI). The facility is to enable the bank give loans to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) sector of the economy, which had been starved of funds for a long time. Managing Director of Jaiz Bank, Mr Hassan Usman, while receiving the cheque, assured the BoI that the fund would be disbursed to the targeted beneficiaries. “Fundamental to the vision and mission of Jaiz Bank is to create wealth for MSMEs. I want to assure you that maximum

By Dipo Olowookere President Muhammadu Buhari has emphasised the need to curb the flow of terrorism financing. He made this known while speaking at the meeting of the African Union Peace and Security Council in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Saturday, under the theme, ‘Towards a Comprehensive Approach to Combat the Transnational Threat to Terrorism.’ According to him, “The need to curb the flow of terrorism financing cannot be over-emphasised. Concerted efforts must be made to not only dismantle the network between transnational organised crimes and terrorist organisations, but also to block the payment of ransom to terrorist groups.” President Buhari

By Dipo Olowookere Within six months, the upgraded version of Ecobank’s revolutionary mobile app attracted three million new customers, taking the total number of users to four million. The app builds on the core functionality that saw the original version applauded as a game changer for African banking by using digital technology to combat many of the financial inclusion barriers faced by those on the continent. This includes the dearth of rural branches, affordability of products, high transaction costs and minimum opening balance requirements. Group chief executive of Ecobank Group, Mr Ade Ayeyemi, disclosed theta the lender’s strategic mission is

The Ikeja Electric has denied reports that the fire incident that took place in the Bariga area of Lagos earlier this week was caused by a spark from an electric pole. Reacting to an article published in the Punch newspaper of August 17, 2016, the company said from its investigation, it discovered that the unfortunate incident, which precisely occurred on Shogbamu Street on Tuesday, August 16, 2016, was never caused by the reported spark. “At the scene of the fire, there is no evidence of felled power lines or snapped power cables as erroneously reported in the publication. It is