Brent Crude Climbs to $73 on Demand Recovery

By Dipo Olowookere The domestic currency had a breather in the peer-to-peer (P2P) and the parallel market segments of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Wednesday, with its value strengthening against the Dollar at the two windows. This was supported by the ease in the forex demand pressure during the trading session, which had the official market, the Investors and Exporters (I&E) arm of the market, non-operational yesterday due to the public holiday observed in the country for Eid el Maulud. Many customers who may have needed FX for their transactions stayed back to enjoy the work-free day, easing off

By Adedapo Adesanya Crude oil prices settled gained almost one per cent higher on Tuesday as expectations of tighter supply outweighed worries that an uncertain economic outlook would hurt demand. Brent crude futures rose by 67 cents or 0.7 per cent to $93.96 per barrel and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures increased by 71 cents or 0.8 per cent to $90.39 per barrel. Oil supply remains tight as Russia and Saudi Arabia have extended production cuts to the end of the year. Market analysts noted that oil supply is expected to underwhelm demand in the foreseeable future

By Adedapo Adesanya Brent crude futures surged by 2.8 per cent or $2.59 on Wednesday to the highest settlement in 2023 at $96.55 per barrel after a steep drop in crude stocks in the United States compounded worries of tighter global supplies. The price of the US West Texas Intermediate crude futures (WTI) climbed by 3.6 per cent or $3.29 to $93.68 as the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported a crude oil inventory draw of 2.2 million barrels for the week to September 22 in the country. In the preceding week, the agency posted an inventory draw of 2.1 million

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Wife of the President, Mrs Aisha Buhari, has commissioned water project (borehole) for people of Sympaya community of Mpape to ease them from contaminated water from a nearby river. Mrs Buhari, who donated the borehole recently in Abuja through her NGO the ‘Future Assured’ programme, expressed hope that the water problem bedevilling the community would be alleviated. Mrs Buhari, through her representative, the former deputy governor of Plateau State, Mrs Pauline Tallen, expressed hope that the borehole would provide portable drinking water to the community, while urging the people of the community to make judicious use of

By Dipo Olowookere The board of Sunu Assurance Nigeria Plc has announced its intention to ask for an approval from shareholders of the company to convert the debt it obtained from Daewoo Securities (Europe) Limited to equity at a “prevailing market price.” In a notice to the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), the firm said it plans to get this approval and others at an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) slated for Monday, March 9, 2020 at 11am at Orchid Hotel on the Ikota-Epe Expressway in Lagos. Also, at the meeting, the board said it would ask for the nod of shareholders

By Adedapo Adesanya An English court in a virtual sitting on Friday threw out a $1.1 billion case filed by Nigeria against oil companies, Royal Dutch Shell and Eni over the OPL 245 oilfield. Justice Christopher Butcher, the judge assigned to the matter, while giving his ruling at the virtual hearing today, held that the court does not have jurisdiction on  the case, giving a set back to the long standing trial on the Malabu oil deal of 2011. The Nigerian government filed the case in 2018 at a commercial court in London alleging payments made by the companies to

By Investors Hub The major U.S. index futures are currently pointing to a modestly lower opening on Friday following the mixed performance seen in the previous session. A mixed batch of earnings news may contribute to choppy trading on Wall Street as traders react to the latest quarterly results from several big-name companies. Shares of Intel (INTC) are moving notably higher in pre-market trading after the semiconductor giant released its third quarter results. Intel reported better than expected quarterly results, raised its full-year revenue guidance, and added $20 billion to its stock repurchase program. Telecom giant Verizon (VZ) may also

By Aduragbemi Omiyale The ownership structure of AIICO Pensions Managers Limited (AIICO Pensions) has changed with the acquisition of 60 per cent of the company by FCMB Pensions Limited (FCMB Pensions). This has now made FCMB Pensions, a subsidiary of the FCMB Group, the majority shareholder of the company. The new company acquired the largest chunk of the company’s equities by purchasing a 33.9 per cent stake from AIICO Insurance and a 26.1 per cent stake from other shareholders. Initially, FCMB Pensions intended to buy the 70 per cent held by AIICO Insurance, but the regulatory agencies involved in the

By Dipo Olowookere Jose Mourinho has been sacked by English football outfit, Manchester United, ending his nearly three-year reign at Old Trafford. This development comes after United suffered a shocking 3-1 defeat to their fiercest rival, Liverpool, on Sunday evening at Anfield. In a statement on Tuesday, the Red Devils confirmed the exit of the 55-year-old Portuguese, who led the club to a League Cup and a Europa League title. With the firing of Mr Mourinho as United boss, his assistant and former captain of the team, Michael Carrick, has been appointed as the caretaker-manager. “A caretaker-manager will be appointed

By Dipo Olowookere Minister of Health, Prof Isaac Adewole, on Wednesday, led a team of stakeholders to destroy a consignment of fake and unwholesome drugs seized by officials of NAFDAC, Customs, NDLEA and other relevant law enforcement agencies. Prof Adewole, who described the drugs as routine drugs in constant demand by Nigerian, noted that this implies a gap in drug supply to the people in need of it and therefore called on the health workers to work closely with the pharmaceutical group to fill the gap by making sure there are quality drugs manufactured locally. “If quality drugs are produced

By Adedapo Adesanya Prices of major crude oil were mixed on Tuesday after Russia and the United States agreed to discuss the falling prices of the commodity at the global market as a result of coronavirus outbreak over three months ago. As at the time of writing, Brent Crude was trading down by 38 cents or 1.44 percent to $26.04 per barrel, while the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) made a slight recovery, up by 21 cents or 1.05 percent to sell as $20.30 per barrel. There were reports that Presidents Donald Trump of the US and Vladimir Putin of Russia