Economy
Crude Oil Prices up as Supply Worries Return
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 and any changes may not last due to the duration of the cuts.
The world’s top central banks, the US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank (ECB), have in recent days reiterated their commitment to fight inflation.
This signals tight monetary policy may persist longer than previously anticipated. Higher interest rates slow economic growth, which curbs oil demand.
On Monday, Russia softened its gasoline and diesel export ban. Exports of products already accepted by Russian Railways and Transneft can go ahead, while higher-sulphur gasoil and fuel used for bunkering will be exempt from the ban.
However, the ban on exports of high-quality diesel and gasoline remains in place.
Last week, Russia temporarily banned exports of gasoline and diesel to all countries outside a circle of four ex-Soviet states (Belarus, Kazakhstan, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan) with immediate effect to stabilize the domestic fuel market, the government said on Thursday.
This is coming amid shortages of petrol and diesel in recent months. Wholesale fuel prices have spiked, although retail prices are capped to try to curb them in line with official inflation.
Pressure came as the US Dollar hit a 10-month high on Tuesday, as higher bond yields attracted investors towards the greenback.
The Dollar is the major currency used for oil pricing. So a stronger Dollar typically weighs on oil demand as it becomes more expensive for importers relative to their local currency.
The American Petroleum Institute (API) has reported a build of 1.586 million barrels in US crude inventories, compared to last week’s large 5.25-million-barrel draw.
Analysts were expecting an inventory draw of 1.650 million barrels for the week. The total number of barrels of crude oil moves so far this year is – 4 million, according to API data, and there is a net draw in crude inventories since April of more than 51 million barrels.
The official data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) will be released on Wednesday.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Five securities caused the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange to experience a setback of 0.64 per cent on Monday, February 2.
During the first trading session of February 2026, FrieslandCampinaWamco Nigeria Plc shrank by N4.46 to end at N63.54 per unit versus the previous session’s N68.00 per unit, as Okitipupa Plc depreciated by N3.83 to close at N230.77 per share versus last Friday’s N234.60 per share.
Further, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) dropped 50 Kobo to sell at N40.00 per unit compared with the previous closing price of N40.50 per unit, UBN Property Plc dipped by 21 Kobo to N1.99 per share from N2.20 per share, and Acorn Petroleum Plc lost 3 Kobo to end at N1.35 per unit versus N1.38 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation went down by N13.98 billion to settle at N2.158 trillion, in contrast to the previous value of N2.171 trillion, and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) contracted by 23.35 points to settle at 3,606.76 points compared with last Friday’s closing value of 3,630.11 points.
Amid the loss, Geo-Fluids Plc managed to finish green after it chalked up 9 Kobo to sell at N6.84 per share versus the N5.75 per share it ended in the last trading day.
Yesterday, the volume of securities traded by investors surged by 1,238.5 per cent to 3.9 million units from 287,618 units, the value of securities increased by 1,075.2 per cent to N36.0 million from N3.1 million, and the number of deals soared by 90.5 per cent to 40 deals from 21 deals.
At the close of trades, CSCS Plc remained the most traded stock by value (year-to-date) with 15.4 million units valued at N623.9 million, followed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 1.7 million units worth N110.2 million, and Geo-Fluids Plc with 10.6 million units sold for N69.9 million.
CSCS Plc was also the most active stock by volume (year-to-date) with 15.4 million units traded for N623.9 million, trailed by Geo-Fluids Plc with 10.6 million units worth N69.9 million, and Mass Telecom Innovation Plc with 10.1 million units transacted for N4.1 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The value of the Naira dropped against the United States Dollar in the the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Monday, February 2 by N3.81 or 0.27 per cent to N1,390.36/$1 from the N1,386.55/$1 it traded last Friday.
This was driven by stronger demand for forex at the official market, which outweighed to what was available to meet customers’ needs. But the local currency remained within the expected trading range.
In the same market window, the domestic currency further appreciated against the Pound Sterling during the session by N6.72 to close at N1,899.51/£1 compared with the preceding session’s rate of N1,906.23/£1 and improved against the Euro by N7.70 to trade at N1,644.52/€1 versus the previous trading day’s value of N1,652.22/€1.
In the parallel market, the exchange rate of the Nigerian Naira to its American counterpart remained unchanged yesterday at N1,465/$1 and at the GTBank FX counter, it also maintained stability at N1,419/$1.
The Naira is expected to remain relatively stable in the coming days, boosted by stronger FX liquidity, enhanced price discovery, and a gradual restoration of offshore investor confidence while Nigeria’s external reserves, which provide the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) with the capacity to defend the Naira and stabilise the foreign exchange market, have continued to grow steadily.
Updated data showed that Nigeria’s gross external reserves printed at $46.18 billion as of January 29, 2026, reflecting an addition of $62.40 million.
As for the cryptocurrency market, it was bullish after a sharp weekend sell-off while a resurgent US Dollar index, which has logged its strongest two-day gain in nine months, threatened to keep gains in check.
Expectations that US Federal Reserve chair nominee, Mr Kevin Warsh, will be cautious on interest-rate cuts, along with upcoming US jobs data, are seen as potential drivers of further Dollar strength.
The biggest gainer for the session was Cardano (ADA), which rose by 6.2 per cent to trade at $0.2976, Ethereum (ETH) appreciated by 5.5 per cent to $2,319.80, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 5.3 per cent to $0.1066, Binance Coin (BNB) gained 4.8 per cent to sell for $776.00, and Solana (SOL) added 4.6 per cent to sell at $103.75.
In addition, Litecoin (LTC) improved by 4.5 per cent to trade at $59.95, Bitcoin (BTC) appreciated by 3.6 per cent to $78,445.62, and Ripple (XRP) expanded by 3.4 per cent to $1.60, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.
By Dipo Olowookere
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited managed to finish in the green territory on Monday after it marginally closed higher by 0.01 per cent.
The last minute escape from the bears was triggered by the gains posted by large-cap equities like Zenith Bank, Aradel Holdings and others, offsetting the losses recorded by GTCO, Oando, First Holdco and others.
According to data obtained by Business Post, only 29 stocks ended on the gainers’ chart, while 44 equities landed on the losers’ table, indicating a negative market breadth index and weak investor sentiment.
Universal Insurance rose by 10.00 per cent to sell for N1.32, Premier Paints appreciated by 10.00 per cent to N11.00, DAAR Communications improved by 9.93 per cent to N1.55, RT Briscoe increased by 9.92 per cent to N8.64, and Morison Industries advanced by 9.91 per cent to N10.98.
On the flip side, Omatek declined by 10.00 per cent to N2.70, Union Homes REIT declined by 9.96 per cent to N85.40, AXA Mansard shrank by 9.94 per cent to N14.31, Deap Capital decreased by 9.90 per cent to N8.46, and C&I Leasing moderated by 9.80 per cent to N6.90.
On the first trading session of this week, market participants bought and sold 762.8 million shares valued at N18.4 billion in 55,374 deals compared with the 687.4 million shares worth N15.0 billion traded in 41,553 deals last Friday, a spike in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 10.97 per cent, 22.67 per cent, and 33.26 per cent, respectively.
Tantalizers ended the day as the most active stock with 88.5 million units sold for N329.4 million, Zenith Bank traded 40.2 million units worth N2.9 billion, Veritas Kapital transacted 39.2 million units valued at N92.1 million, Universal Insurance exchanged 29.3 million units for N38.1 million, and First Holdco transacted 27.6 million units worth N1.1 billion.
The sectorial performance yesterday showed that the mood of investors was in the sell region despite the slight growth recorded by Customs Street, as only the energy index closed in green, rising by 2.00 per cent.
The insurance counter was down by 1.99 per cent, the banking industry depleted by 0.64 per cent, the consumer goods shrank by 0.37 per cent, and the industrial goods retreated by 0.08 per cent.
When the first trading day of February 2026 ended on Monday, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 14.23 points to 165,384.63 points from 165,370.40 points, while the market capitalization chalked up N9 billion to finish at N106.162 trillion compared with the previous session’s N106.153 trillion.
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