European Shares Close Mixed as Investors Await Fed Outcome

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Strong inflationary pressures in November further negatively impacted companies in Nigeria, with new orders and output both falling as customers were either reluctant or unable to pay higher charges. Purchase prices rose at the fastest pace in almost two years amid exchange rate weakness and higher costs for fuel and materials. According to the latest Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) from Stanbic IBTC, business conditions remained under pressure, scoring 48.0 points last month compared with the 49.1 points it garnered in October 2023. Readings above 50.0 signal an improvement in business conditions, while readings below 50.0 show deterioration.

By Aduragbemi Omiyale The online stock trading platform of one of the leading brokerage firms in Nigeria, Morgan Capital Securities Limited, i-Trade, has experienced a technical glitch. This technical issue has made it difficult for its clients to carry out transactions on the popular platform. Morgan Capital’s i-Trade platform is popular among retail investors in the Nigerian capital market, especially those trading equities on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited, because of its lower fees. The company has already assured its customers that it was working to restore services, providing an alternative to them. “This is to inform

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 Modupe Gbadeyanka Business owners in Lagos have been assured of more incentives by the state governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who added that this is part of his administration’s commitment to reforms aimed at improving the ease of doing business and enhancing investment opportunities. Speaking at the commissioning of the newly-built wet hair production factory of Godrej Nigeria Limited, the Governor said his government would continue to pursue actions that would eliminate red tapes and regulatory impediments hindering the growth of businesses in the state, thereby demonstrating his willingness for continued collaboration with the private sector to improve the livelihood

By Dipo Olowookere Result of the admission screening exercise conducted by the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO), Imo State, has finally been released. The school has pasted names of successful candidates from the screening on its website. Those who participated in the admission screening exercise can now go on FUTO website to confirm if they scaled through. FUTO has urged participants to check their score on www.portal.futo.edu.ng/Modules/Applications/PUTME/ScreeningForm.aspx. Candidates are expected to enter their JAMB registration number in the space provided on the website and then click the ‘Submit’ button to view their score.

By Dipo Olowookere President Muhammadu Buhari has assured potential investors that Nigeria would soon be one of the most attractive places to invest as his administration has embarked on significant economic reforms to realize that goal The President gave this assurance to a large gathering of political and business leaders from the United States, Africa and other regions of the world at the Second United States-Africa Business Forum in the New York, on Wednesday, organized by the United States Department of Commerce and Bloomberg Philanthropies. The Nigerian leader said that the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council headed by Vice-President Yemi

By Modupe Gbadeyanka Speaker of Edo State House of Assembly, Mr Esezobor Okonoboh, has declared his support to the Federal Ministry of Health’s Nigeria Product Supply Chain Management Programme (NPSCMP), which is aimed at ensuring equitable distribution of drugs and other health commodities to the states. Mr Okonoboh made this statement during a penetration and advocacy visit by a team from the health Ministry led by Chinwe Okoroanyanwu in his office in Benin City, Edo State. He advised the state’s Commissioner and the Permanent Secretary of Health to ensure that the Ministry has a well-coordinated Logistics Management Coordination Unit (LMCU)

By Dipo Olowookere Investors in the treasury bills market in Nigeria will be expecting the maturing of N424.87 billion worth of the government instrument this week. These bills are expected to mature via the primary and secondary market which will offset T-bills worth N180.86 billion to be rolled over by Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) via the primary market; viz: 91-day bills worth N6.22 billion, 182-day bills worth N50 billion and 364-day bills worth N124.64 billion. This development, according to analysts at Cowry Asset, is expected to cause a renewed liquidity strain in the system with resultant spike in interbank

By Adedapo Adesanya   Two members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Iraq and Nigeria, have complied with an agreement reached early December 2019 to reduce the volume of crude oil production. At a meeting held last month in Vienna, Austria, the oil cartel agreed to drop output by 50,000 barrels per day. In a survey published by Reuters on Monday, January 7, 2020, it was disclosed that total output fell to 29.50 million barrels per day last month, indicating that compliance level by the OPEC members and allies reached 158 percent. The survey showed that Nigeria and

By Dipo Olowookere Leader in highly efficient blue emitter materials for OLEDs, CYNORA and Juhua, the Chinese open platform company aiming at the industrialization of printing OLED technology to produce OLED TVs, have signed a MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) to cooperate on OLED TV development. CYNORA is joining the technology platform with Juhua which is held by two China Panel Giants CSOT and Tianma. The OLED display market is already established and is growing fast with a CAGR 41%, as the LCD industry is moving towards OLED. This new technology has several advantages versus LCD displays for end-users. The OLED

By Dipo Olowookere The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) have agreed to work together in order to reduce the level of fraudulent activities in the nation’s capital market and sanitize it so as to further boost confidence of investors. On Wednesday, both organisations signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to this effect. A statement issued by the Head of Public Affairs at SEC, Efe Ebelo, quoted acting Director-General of the agency, Ms Mary Uduk, as saying that the collaboration was to stamp out suspicious transactions at the market, especially insider dealings. She further

By Modupe Gbadeyanka All is now set for the burial of the former General Secretary of the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), Comrade Abdul Kareem Motajo. The late labour leader died on April 20, 2020, in Cuba but the global lockdown led to the delay in the shipment of his remains back to Nigeria. With the ease in the restriction of movements, his corpse will arrive in Nigeria this week ahead of the Thursday, February 11, 2021, burial fixed by his family. In a statement issued by the deceased’s son, Mr Adebowale Motajo, it was stated that the