Economy
Brent Climbs to $121 Per Barrel as EU Meets on Russian Ban
By Adedapo Adesanya
Brent crude hit $121.70 per barrel on Monday after rising by $2.24 or 1.88 per cent as traders turned their attention to whether the European Union (EU) will finally reach an agreement on banning Russian oil.
Also, the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose $2.10 or 1.82 per cent to $117.20 per barrel as the bloc continues talks on Tuesday on the sixth package of sanctions against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.
Any further ban on Russian oil would tighten a crude market already strained for supply amid rising demand for petrol, diesel, and jet fuel.
EU governments failed to agree on an embargo on Russian oil on Sunday but will continue talks on a deal to ban seaborne deliveries of Russian oil while allowing deliveries by pipeline.
If agreed, a deal would allow Hungary, Slovakia and Czech Republic to continue to receive their Russian oil via the Druzhba pipeline for some time until alternative supplies can be arranged.
Support also came for the market ahead of the peak summer demand season in the United States and Europe.
Oil prices were also supported by a fall in the US Dollar as investors prepare for aggressive US rate hikes and as fears eased about a global recession. A weaker dollar makes oil less expensive for importers holding other currencies.
These bullish factors helped ease the pressure as a stronger US Dollar made it expensive for holders of other countries to buy crude oil.
Despite this, the US Dollar Index, which pits the dollar against a basket of six global currencies, is hovering around 20-year highs. Since the beginning of the year, the Dollar index has gained 8 per cent; and in the last 12 months, it has risen 14 per cent.
Gains also came as the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, including Russia, together called OPEC+, are set to ignore calls to speed up their oil output additions when they meet on Thursday, June 2.
The latest round of calls came from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, which make up the Group of Seven (G7) urging the cartel to pump more oil.
However, they will likely stick to their plan to add 432,000 barrels per day in July.
By Adedapo Adesanya
For the second consecutive session, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc plunged the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 0.04 per cent on Thursday, March 13.
The milk producer was the only price loser during the session, weakening the gains reported by three other securities.
At the close of transactions, the price of FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc went down by N1.88 to settle at N35.57 per share from Wednesday’s closing price of N37.45 per share.
However, Okitipupa Plc gained N3.00 to end at N330.00 per unit compared with the N327.00 per unit it traded at midweek, Geo-Fluids Plc improved its value by 20 Kobo to N3.15 per share from N2.95 per share and UBN Property Plc grew by 10 Kobo to N1.95 per unit from its previous rate of N1.85 per unit.
Yesterday, the market capitalisation of the bourse went down by N770 million to settle at N1.954 trillion compared with the preceding day’s N1.955 trillion and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) dropped 1.32 points to close at 3,384.18 points, in contrast to the previous trading day’s 3,385.50 points.
The volume of securities traded at the bourse at midweek increased by 1,204.5 per cent to 3.9 million units from the 298,845 units achieved on Wednesday, the value of securities traded by investors went up by 126.9 per cent to N23.6 million from the N10.4 million quoted at the preceding session, and the number number of deals decreased by 32.00 per cent to 17 deals from 25 deals.
Impresit Bakolori Plc was the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 533.9 million units worth N520.9 million, followed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 12.7 million units valued at N493.2 million, and Afriland Properties Plc with 17.2 million units sold for N352.8 million.
Also, Impresit Bakolori Plc was the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 533.9 million units worth N520.9 million, trailed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 69.9 million units worth N23.7 million and Afriland Properties Plc with 17.2 million units valued at N352.8 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira closed flat against the Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Thursday, March 13 at N1,540.68/$1, though FX pressure remained.
It was the first time in the last few sessions that the value of the local currency did not depreciate in the official market against the greenback.
However, the domestic currency weakened against the British Pound Sterling at the spot market yesterday by N4.19 to close at N1,990.13/£1 versus the previous day’s N1,985.94/£1.
It was also a similar situation for the Euro at NAFEM, where the Nigerian currency lost N60 Kobo to quote at N1,676.08/€1, in contrast to the preceding session’s value of N1,675.48/€1.
In the same vein, the Nigerian Naira crumbled against the US Dollar in the black market during the trading day by N5 to sell for N1,590/$1 versus Wednesday’s closing price of N1,590/$1.
Recent interventions have failed to ease pressure on the market with the country’s foreign reserves losing over $2 billion in the last month and projected to lose more as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) sustains US Dollar sales to banks and debt servicing payments.
Meanwhile, in the cryptocurrency market, tokens rose despite persisting US trade war fears which are dampening risk-asset trader appetites.
Market analysts noted that concerns about a President Donald Trump triggered tariff war and a slowing economy in the US, the world’s largest economy, is not offering a clear direction.
The February print of the US Producer Price Index (PPI) came in below median expectations, copying the Consumer Price Index (CPI) results from the day prior.
On an unadjusted basis, the index for final demand advanced 3.2 percent for the 12 months ended in February, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) stated.
Ripple (XRP) gained 3.3 per cent to finish at $2.30, Ethereum (ETH) added 1.5 per cent to sell at $1,891.13, Solana (SOL) jumped by 0.9 per cent to $124.71, Binance Coin (BNB) also appreciated by 0.9 per cent to $580.79, and Dogecoin (DOGE) rose by 0.8 per cent to $0.1685.
On the flip side, Bitcoin (BTC) crashed by 1.2 per cent to $82,033.71, Cardano (ADA) declined by 0.7 per cent to $0.7154, and Litecoin (LTC) depreciated by 0.3 per cent to $88.95, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil prices fell by over 1 per cent on Thursday as markets weighed macroeconomic concerns from the United States as well as other countries, with Brent futures losing $1.07 or 1.5 per cent to trade at $69.88 a barrel and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures declining by $1.13 or 1.7 per cent to $66.55 a barrel.
The market was depressed from risk that tariff wars between the US and other countries could hurt global demand.
On Thursday, US President Donald Trump threatened to slap a 200 per cent tariff on wine, cognac and other alcohol imports from Europe, in addition to previous tariffs.
According to market analysts, this has opened a new front in a global trade war and has sent jitters to investors who are worried about stiffer trade barriers around the world’s largest consumer market.
This latest move is in response to the European Union’s plan to impose tariffs on American whiskey and other products next month, which itself is a reaction to Mr Trump’s 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminum imports that took effect on Wednesday.
The American president has threatened to impose an array of trade penalties since returning to the White House in January, though he has postponed action on many of them.
Also, uncertainty stemming from a US proposal for a Russia-Ukraine ceasefire also affected the market after Russian President Vladimir Putin said it agreed to stop fighting but any ceasefire should lead to a lasting peace and address root causes of the conflict.
The possibility of this could boost the availability of Russian oil.
Also on the supply front, the International Energy Agency reported that global oil supply could exceed demand by around 600,000 barrels per day this year, with global demand now expected to rise by just 1.03 million barrels per day, off last month’s forecast by 70,000 barrels per day.
The report cited deteriorating macroeconomic conditions, including escalating trade tensions.
Meanwhile, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries said in its monthly report that the wider OPEC+ group which includes OPEC plus Russia and other allies, in February raised output by 363,000 barrels per day to 41.01 million barrels per day, led by Kazakhstan.
This comes as OPEC+ plans to phases out its most recent layer of output cuts beginning in April.
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