Bearish Sentiment Dominants T-Bills Market as CBN Mops up N189.7b

By Adedapo Adesanya President Bola Tinubu is targeting to grow Nigeria’s economy by 3.76 per cent next year and moderate the country’s inflation to 21.4 per cent. Speaking at his first budget speech to lawmakers on Wednesday, President Tinubu also projected higher oil production and tax collection, noting that this will boost government revenues and cut down on reliance on borrowing to finance budget deficits. Nigeria plans on spending N27.5 billion in the 2024 fiscal year, with priorities on security, infrastructure and easing the high cost-of-living crisis. The country will borrow around N9 trillion and N18.5 billion generated from internally

By Adedapo Adesanya Crude oil prices fell on Thursday members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) agreed to voluntary output cuts for the first quarter of next year, falling short of market expectations. As a result, Brent crude futures lost 27 cents or 0.3 per cent to close at $82.83 per barrel, and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures went down by $1.90 or 2.4 per cent to $75.96 a barrel. On a monthly basis, Brent fell by 5.2 per cent while WTI was down by 6.2 per cent. Saudi Arabia, Russia

By Dipo Olowookere Local equities rebounded by 0.34 per cent on Wednesday on the back of buying pressure on a few energy stocks and others at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited. According to data from the bourse, the bullish stance was attained despite profit-taking activities in the banking space amid plans by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to recapitalise the industry, leaving the market breadth index negative. This was because the number of price losers was more than the price gainers at 39 and 19 apiece, indicating a weak investor sentiment. Business Post reports that the energy counter grew

By Dipo Olowookere The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited commenced the first trading session in December 2023 on a bullish note, with a marginal growth of 0.08 per cent. Sustained buying pressure kept Nigerian stocks in the positive territory, extending the dominance of the bulls on Customs Street, though the turnover waned. Business Post observed that investors cherry-picked equities in the banking and the energy sectors during the session, leaving them rising by 1.14 per cent and 0.05 per cent, respectively. However, the insurance counter lost 1.10 per cent, the consumer goods index depreciated by 0.08 per cent, and the industrial

By Adedapo Adesanya The week opened with a depreciation at the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange on Monday, July 27. The market fell yesterday 0.54 per cent and this was majorly spurred by losses faced by three of the market’s big stocks. The day saw price changes across five securities, but Afriland Property Plc, FrieslandCampina WAMCO Nigeria Plc, and Niger Delta Exploration and Production (NDEP) Plc were the laggards. NDEP Plc led the chart of losers with a 5.4 per cent contraction amounting to N16.65 to close at N290 per share from N306.65 per share. Friesland dropped 33 kobo or

By Adedapo Adesanya Nigeria and other oil producers around the world will begin to cut as much as 10 percent of the present crude oil supply from tomorrow, Friday, May 1. Nigeria is a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), a cartel of oil producing nations led by Saudi Arabia, who along with allies led by Russia will trim production by roughly 9.7 million barrels per day. The decision is being taken primarily to help ramp up oil prices, which have dropped more than 70 percent this year alone due to coronavirus pandemic. As a result,

By Adedapo Adesanya The European Union (EU) has promised to work with stakeholders to help tackle Nigeria’s worrying oil theft and the illegal refining menace. This assurance was given when officials of the bloc as well as those of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited and the Joint Task Force, under Operation Delta Safe, visited illegal refineries sites in Ahoada West Local Government Area of Rivers State for an on-the-spot assessment of the impact of their operations on the environment. The visit, according to the EU, was imperative to assess things for themselves, especially to ascertain how crude oil

By Adedapo Adesanya As the Naira continues to take a heavy beating against the major international currencies at the foreign exchange (forex) market, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said its major concern, for now, was boosting Dollar supply to the market windows and not the valuation of the local currency. The Director of Monetary Policy at the CBN, Mr Hassan Mahmud, while speaking at a virtual investor conference on Tuesday, said if there is sufficient FX supply, the domestic currency will regain stability. This week, the local currency plunged to a new record low of N532/$1 at the unregulated

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Ten additional customers of Fidelity Bank Plc have become millionaires in the financial institution’s Get Alert in Millions Season 5 (GAIM 5) promo. The new millionaires emerged in the third monthly draw held in Lagos on Tuesday, February 22, 2022, with officials of regulatory organisations in attendance like Ms Oyinkan Kusamotu, Senior Legal Officer, Lagos State Lotteries & Gaming Authority; Genevieve Nwaoche of the National Lottery Regulatory Commission; and Onifade Abiodun of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission. Launched in November 2021, the Fidelity Bank GAIM 5 promo rewards customers for maintaining a savings account with

By Adedapo Adesanya The managements of both Zenith Bank Plc and Union Bank of Nigeria Plc have reacted to the widespread reports that they were having discussions bordering on becoming a single entity. Zenith Bank on Tuesday released a press statement to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), claiming it had not made any binding offer to acquire any financial institution. According to the statement signed by Company Secretary/General Counsel, Mr Michael Osilama Otu, “Zenith Bank Plc notes certain recent internet and social media reports suggesting a proposed acquisition of Union Bank Plc by Zenith Bank Plc. “We hereby state categorically

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The board of directors of Dangote Cement Plc is planning to meet later this month to deliberate on the financial statements of the company for the third quarter of this year. This was the information released by the cement giant yesterday in a notice sent to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and the investing public for their perusal. Dangote Cement said the forthcoming board meeting is specifically slated for Tuesday, October 29, 2019 and would be for the consideration of the unaudited financial statements for the nine months ended September 30, 2019. “This is to inform the

By Adedapo Adesanya A new report has shown that amid a global pullback in venture capital funds, the African tech ecosystem stood out and attracted an 8 per cent growth in funding last year compared with 2021. In its annual report, Africa Tech Venture Capital, Partech Africa, a VC fund dedicated to technology startups in Africa, noted that the total ecosystem raked in $6.5 billion. The report showed that debt funding doubled in volume to $1.5 billion, accounting for nearly a quarter of the total funding. Fintech, still leading, attracted 39 per cent of the total equity volume, while Nigeria