Crude Rises on Unlikely Production Boost, Fresh US-China Tensions

By Dipo Olowookere The positive momentum witnessed at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited continued on Monday with a 0.17 per cent leap at the close of business. Buying pressure, particularly in a few blue-chip equities, kept the bulls at Customs Street during the trading session, though the consumer goods space succumbed to profit-taking by 0.99 per cent. But hope was kept alive by the gains reported by the other key sectors of the market, with the banking counter growing by 1.71 per cent, and the industrial goods index appreciating by 0.01 per cent, while the insurance and energy sectors remained

By Adedapo Adesanya The prices of oil benchmarks jumped by 2 per cent on Tuesday on the fresh possibility that the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) will extend or deepen supply cuts. Data showed that Brent crude futures gained $1.70 or 2.1 per cent to close at $81.68 a barrel and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude increased by $1.55 or 2.1 per cent to $76.41 per barrel after a drop in Kazakh oil output and a weaker US Dollar. OPEC+ is due to hold an online ministerial meeting on Thursday to discuss 2024

By Adedapo Adesanya Brent crude benchmark dipped below $80 a barrel on Monday, precisely losing 60 cents of 0.7 per cent to trade at $79.98 a barrel as investors await this week’s meeting of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies (OPEC+). The group is anticipated to maintain its ceiling on crude oil production by member countries into 2024. This affected the oil market, with the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures declining yesterday by 68 cents or 0.9 per cent to trade at $74.86 per barrel. Last week, the 23-man OPEC+ postponed its Sunday ministerial meeting

By Adedapo Adesanya Oil fell for a second straight session on Thursday as a result of an uncertain demand outlook with COVID-19 infections spreading in the top oil-importing nation, China. China’s government is dismantling pandemic restrictions that have been in place for more than two years, but more countries are considering restrictions on Chinese travellers with COVID-19 infections spreading. This weakened the price of Brent crude by $1.00 or 1.2 per cent yesterday to $82.26 per barrel, as the US West Texas Intermediate crude depreciated by $1.13 or 0.7 per cent to $78.40 per barrel. From the US to Japan,

By Adedapo Adesanya Bank of America (BOA) has said Nigeria may need to hike interest rate to as much as 25 per cent to be able to tackle soaring inflation, according to its sub-Saharan Africa economist, Mr Tatonga Rusike, per Bloomberg. The CBN, since last year, has been increasing the country’s interest rates. At its last Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting in May 2023, the benchmark interest rate was further pushed forward by 0.5 per cent to 18.50 per cent from 18.00 per cent in March. However, this has not slowed Nigeria’s soaring inflation which hit 22.41 per cent in

By Adedapo Adesanya For the first time in a while, transactions on the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange ended in the positive territory on Wednesday, December 11, 2019. Business Post reports that in the past session, the market had been closing flat, but that upturned yesterday as a result of the positive performance of FrieslandCampina Wamco Plc. The company, which has been making efforts to expand its operations in Nigeria by signing deals with state governments to grow its dairy products, was the lone price mover in the day. At the close of business share price of the food processing

By Dipo Olowookere The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has launched a price verification system portal to allow importers and others to have access to foreign exchange (FX). The system is to enable transparency in forex transactions, as it will have details of how customers obtained the foreign currencies and at what rate. There had been allegations of round tripping, especially against banks and their officials, putting pressure on the Nigerian Naira at the FX market. To tackle this, the apex bank introduced the price verification system. In a circular issued on Thursday night, the CBN said the system is

By Dipo Olowookere Chairman of the Investments and Securities Tribunal (IST), Mr Isaiah Idoko-Akor, has disclosed that his body will continue to work hard to bring sanity in the Nigerian capital market, especially in the area of resolving disputes and punishing operators found committing fraudulent acts. Mr Idoko-Akor made this disclosure on Tuesday when he paid a courtesy visit to the Acting Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Mr Abdul Zubair, in his office in Abuja. Explaining the reason for his visit, the IST chairman said it was mainly to seek continuous support of the country’s apex capital

By Modupe Gbadeyanka A leading business learning company, African Management Institute (AMI), has appointed Mrs Asha Mweru Mbowa as the Managing Director of its newly launched AMI Enterprise, a new division dedicated to boosting workplace and professional skills for growth-stage and established companies. The Kenyan national was promoted to the new position from her role as AMI’s Director of Operations and Talent, where she oversaw a 118 per cent growth of AMI employees from 2020 to 2022. Her promotion continues the precedent set by AMI in which women represent over 60 per cent of all senior leadership positions at AMI.

By Dipo Olowookere To celebrate this year’s international Customer Service Week, a leading innovative consumer finance company in Nigeria, Zedvance Limited, has unveiled a series of exciting and rewarding activities to enhance customer experience during the period. One of these include the opportunity for customers to enjoy interest-free loans by simply applying through the MoneyPal app or on the company’s website at www.zedvance.com between 7am and 11am from October 7 to 11, 2019. According to a statement issued by the firm, the celebration of this year’s Customer Service Week would be memorable because more exciting offers would be unveiled. Chief

One of Nigeria’s foremost photo-storytellers, Mr Kelechi Amadi-Obi, in partnership with The Macallan, is organising a photography exhibition themed Amazing Nigeria. The exhibition, which will be held between October 28 and Sunday, November 6, is being hosted by Ecobank at its sprawling head office complex, Ecobank Pan-African Centre (EPAC), on the highbrow Ozumba Mbadiwe Avenue, Victoria Island, Lagos. According to him, the 10-day exhibition will focus essentially on Nigeria and its diversity in arts, culture and, more importantly, the ingenuity of her creatives, adding that it would also capture the beauty and scenes in Nigeria, including iconic buildings, monuments, landscapes,