DMO Begins Issuance of N5,000 Savings Bonds Today

By Adedapo Adesanya Oil slumped by more than 2 per cent on Friday as traders showed scepticism about the depth of supply cuts by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) as well as concerns about sluggish global manufacturing activity. Brent crude went down by $1.98 or 2.45 per cent to close at $78.88 a barrel as the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude dropped $1.89 or 2.49 per cent to sell for $74.07 a barrel. For the week, Brent posted a decline of about 2.1 per cent, while WTI lost more than 1.9 per cent.

By Dipo Olowookere Profit-taking activities brought back the bears to the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Monday as investors rebalanced their portfolios. It was observed that traders at Customs Street booked profits in shares mostly in the industrial goods sectors like BUA Cement and Lafarge Africa. This resultantly brought down the local stock market by 0.66 per cent at the close of transactions, with the industrial goods space losing 4.21 per cent, the insurance counter declining by 0.28 per cent, and the energy sector falling by 0.01 per cent. However, the consumer goods index improved yesterday by

By Adedapo Adesanya The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has said it would ensure that the next national minimum wage to be negotiated in 2024 reflects the prevailing cost of living. The union also lamented that following the removal of fuel subsidy by the federal government, life has become extremely unbearable for workers. Addressing participants at the opening of the 19th edition of the NLC’s Harmattan School in Abuja, President of the NLC, Mr Joe Ajaero, said it had become necessary for governments at all levels to recognise that life and living conditions were exceedingly difficult, especially for working people in

By Investors Hub Asian stocks turned in another mixed performance on Friday as concerns surrounding an impeachment inquiry into U.S. President Donald Trump and weak data from China offset renewed U.S.-China trade talk optimism. Meanwhile, there were reports that Washington is unlikely to extend a waiver allowing American firms to supply China’s Huawei Technologies. Chinese shares recovered from an early slide to finish higher even as data showed the country’s industrial profits contracted in August after a brief recovery in July. The benchmark Shanghai Composite index Inched up 3.08 points, or 0.1 percent, to 2,932.17, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng

By Dipo Olowookere The key trading indices of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited closed higher by 0.08 per cent on Friday on the back of renewed bargain hunting as investors begin to have confidence in the market. Business Post reports that the insurance, energy and consumer goods sectors appreciated yesterday by 1.04 per cent, 0.32 per cent and 0.04 per cent respectively, while the banking and industrial goods counters went down by 0.34 per cent and 0.13 per cent apiece. When the trading activities were round up for the day, the All-Share Index (ASI) improved by 32.56 points to 38,943.87

By Dipo Olowookere The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited has finally listed 29,431,179,224 ordinary shares of Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GT HoldCo) Plc on its trading platform. The stocks were admitted on the exchange on Thursday, June 24, 2021, after the delisting of the entire GTBank equities on the same platform. Business Post reports that the shares were listed today at a unit price of N28.55. Last Friday, the stock exchange placed trading in the equities of GTBank on full suspension ahead of their delisting to allow the introduction of GT HoldCo shares. Today, the GTBank shares were removed from the

By Adedapo Adesanya The Nigerian government has received the samples of Russia’s COVID-19 vaccine, a statement from the Ministry of Health in Abuja has confirmed. The Minister of Health, Mr Osagie Ehanire, received the sample of the vaccine from the Ambassador of Russia to Nigeria, Mr Alexey Shebarshin during a visit to the Ministry in Abuja on Friday. The Russian Ambassador also handed an aide-memoire which gives details about the vaccine to help the Nigerian government conduct further research on it. “We are exploring all knowledge in terms of therapeutics and vaccines,” Mr Ehanire was quoted as saying in a

By Adedapo Adesanya The crude oil market climbed about 3 per cent to close Friday’s trading session on a high note as supply concerns and technical buying outweighed fears of further interest rate hikes. Brent futures rose $1.95 or 2.6 per cent to settle at $78.47 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures appreciated by $2.06 or 2.9 per cent to trade at $73.86 per barrel. That was the highest close for Brent since May 1 and WTI since May 24, as both benchmarks ended up about 5 per cent for the week. Top oil exporters, Saudi

By Adedapo Adesanya The latest update of the Global Debt Database by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) showed that total global debt (public and private) reached $188 trillion at the end of 2018. This is up by $3 trillion when compared to 2017 ($185 trillion) as increased borrowings from Nigeria, China, Argentina, and other countries contributed to this. In Nigeria’s case, the country debt rose to N24.4 trillion at the end of the 2018 from N21.7 trillion in 2017. The IMF noted that global average debt-to-GDP ratio (weighted by each country’s GDP) recorded an increase up to 226 percent in

Nigeria stands to lose up to $9 billion worth of its foreign assets following an enforcement application to US and UK courts by Process and Industrial Development (P&ID), a British firm tied up in a legal dispute with the Federal Government. The court case arose out of the failure of a contract awarded the company in 2010 to process wet gas to power Nigeria’s generating plants. In January 2017, a London tribunal, organized under the rules of the Nigeria Arbitration and Conciliation Act, ordered Nigeria to pay P&ID $6 billion in damages, plus $2.3 million in uncollected interest. That figure

By Adedapo Adesanya Crude oil prices extended their rise on Wednesday as the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported an inventory decline of 6.7 million barrels in the United States for the week to June 25. This development pushed the value of the Brent higher by 37 cents or 0.49 per cent to $75.13 per barrel and moved the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) higher by 39 cents or 0.53 per cent to $73.86 per barrel. Both benchmarks recorded their seventh monthly gain in the past eight months with the global benchmark making an 8 per cent rise while the WTI rose