CBN, Others Seek N120bn to Fight COVID-19

By Dipo Olowookere Trading activities on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited further ended on a positive note on Wednesday despite investors diversifying their funds to other securities available in the capital market. Yesterday, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) sold treasury bills to investors in the primary market but this did not affect the stock market, which closed higher by 0.78 per cent amid sustained buying pressure. The growth recorded in the midweek session was mainly driven by bargain-hunting in the banking space, which rose by 5.01 per cent at the close of transactions. It was the

By Adedapo Adesanya Brent crude closed below $75 per barrel on Wednesday, precisely selling at $74.39 per barrel after shedding $2.81 or 3.5 per cent. It was the lowest level for the crude oil grade since June, as a larger-than-expected rise in US fuel inventories added to worries about fuel demand, also pressuring the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures by $2.74  or 3.8 per cent in the midweek session to $69.58 a barrel. The US Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported a crude oil inventory draw of 4.6 million barrels for the week to December 1. A sizeable inventory build

By Adedapo Adesanya  The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has disclosed that the total value of the country’s merchandise trade experienced an increase of 1 per cent to $7.8 billion in August 2023 from the $7.72 billion that was quoted in July. This was disclosed by the apex bank in its latest monthly economic publication, where it disclosed that despite the rise month-on-month, Nigeria’s merchandise trade value in the period was almost 20 per cent lower compared to the value in August 2022 due to a significant decrease in import trade value. The total merchandise trade comprised an export trade

By Adedapo Adesanya Nigerian crude output fell by 30,000 barrels per day to 1.43 million barrels per day in November, according to data from an S&P Global Commodity Insight. This was lower than the 1.46 million barrels produced in October by Africa’s largest oil producer and 312,000 barrels per day short of its 1.742 million barrels per day target in 2023. Angola, Africa’s second-largest oil producer, saw output drop 20,000 barrels per day to 1.13 million barrels per day, according to the survey, compared with its quota of 1.46 million barrels per day. The drops impacted the wider output of

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By Dipo Olowookere President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed deep sorrow and regret over the Sunday train disaster in India that killed more than 100 passengers near Pukhrayan. The President, who received the news of the train derailment and heavy loss of lives, expressed great sorrow and profound shock as he commiserates with the Indian Prime Minister, Mr Narendra Modi and the families of the victims. A statement issued on Sunday by his spokesman, Mr Garba Shehu, quoted President Buhari as saying that, “The loss of human life on whatever scale, and anywhere, is bad enough,” adding that “the world becomes

By Investors Hub The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a higher opening on Wednesday, with the major averages likely to move to the upside after ending the previous session. Early buying interest may be generated in reaction to a report from the Commerce Department showing an unexpected increase in durable goods orders in the month of January. Trading activity may be somewhat subdued, however, as traders keep a close eye developments in the U.K. regarding Brexit. Following the rally seen on Monday, the major averages moved in opposite directions during trading on Tuesday. While the Dow pulled back,

By Dipo Olowookere The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) returned to the negative territory on Friday after rising by 1.40 per cent on Thursday. During the trading day yesterday, the market slumped by 0.34 per cent as a result of selling pressure on some energy, industrial goods and consumer goods stocks. Business Post reports that the oil/gas index went down by 4.98 per cent, while the industrial goods counter lost 1.01 per cent, with the consumer goods space losing 0.08 per cent. However, the insurance goods index put up a good performance on Friday, rising by 0.29 per cent, while the

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr Maikanti Baru, has been commended by the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), and the Petroleum Tankers Drivers branch of the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), for ensuring seamless supply and distribution of petroleum products across the country. Speaking during a visit to the GMD by the associations, NARTO President, Mr Kassim Ibrahim Bataiya, and Chairman of PTD, Mr Otumba Oladiti, were unanimous in their views that fuel supply and distribution matrix had improved under Mr Baru’s watch. According to Mr

By Olutayo Irantiola After the country was embarrassed by the foods and drugs agencies of other countries, the National Agency for Foods and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) addressed the media some weeks ago that Nigerians should stop embarrassing the country while trying to export farm produce and processed food. This is rather reactive rather than proactive and this has raised a lot of questions among Nigerians. In a place like Lagos, different radio stations grant interview to organizers of various seminars wherein they claim to teach people on how to export different food items to other countries. Does this

By Adedapo Adesanya Earlier on Tuesday, crude oil reached $70 per barrel, but fears that the market may soon be flooded with supply from Iran after making progress in its talks with the United States dragged the price downwards. At the market yesterday, the Brent crude depreciated by $1.03 or 1.48 per cent to trade at $68.43 per barrel, while the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude lost 78 cents or 1.18 per cent to sell at $65.49 per barrel. Prices of the black gold deflated after the market received information that “important news” would be released regarding the Iranian nuclear

By Modupe Gbadeyanka The presidential election in Nigeria may have come and gone, but the effect will be with the Africa’s largest economy for the next four years. Last Saturday, Nigerians went to the polls to re-elect President Muhammadu Buhari for another four years. In his first four years in office, which will officially end on May 29, 2019, the nation suffered its first recession in many years. During the period, a lot of investors rushed to pull out their funds from the country and the stock market suffered for it. Also, the President had to spend a chunk of