By Adedapo Adesanya

Despite the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) revealing on Thursday that inflation rate in April 2025 in Nigeria cooled to 23.71 per cent, according to the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report, the Nigerian Naira performed woefully in the various segments of the foreign exchange (FX) market against the United States Dollar yesterday.

The statistics office said the headline inflation figure for last month represents a 0.52 per cent decline from the 24.23 per cent recorded in March 2025.

On a month-on-month basis, inflation growth slowed considerably, printing at 1.86 per cent in April compared to 3.90 per cent recorded in March.

Amid this encouraging inflation data, the domestic currency lost 0.21 per cent or N3.40 against the greenback in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) during the session to close at N1,600.15/$1, in contrast to the N1,596.75/$1 it was traded on Wednesday.

Similarly, it tumbled against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N1.10 to settle at N2,126.47/£1 versus midweek’s rate of N2,125.37/£1 and slumped against the Euro by 87 Kobo to finish at N1,791.25/€1 compared with the N1,790.38/€1 it traded a day earlier.

Also, the value of the Naira declined against the Dollar in the parallel market on Thursday by N5 to end at N1,625/$1 versus the preceding day’s rate of N1,620/$1.

As for cryptocurrency market, it was mixed as the US Federal Reserve Chair, Mr Jerome Powell, said at a conference on Thursday that longer term interest rates are likely to be higher.

This news was calmed by investors banking on recent tariff developments as the US negotiates agreements with other countries. It has reached deals with the United Kingdom and China and could reach one with India soon.

Bitcoin (BTC) gained 1.5 per cent to sell at $103,941.43, Litecoin (LTC) appreciated by 1.5 per cent to $100.34, Binance Coin (BNB) rose by 1.3 per cent to $657.44, and Ethereum (ETH) improved by 0.6 per cent to $2,588.88.

But, Ripple (XRP) crumbled by 3.2 per cent to $2.41, Dogecoin (DOGE) slumped by 0.9 per cent to $0.2263, Solana (SOL) went down by 0.6 per cent to $172.63, and Cardano (ADA) slipped by 0.3 per cent to $0.7830, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.

By Adedapo Adesanya

The oil market was down by about 2 per cent on Thursday on expectations of a US-Iran nuclear deal that could result in sanctions being eased and more barrels released onto the global market.

This brought down the price of Brent by $1.56 or 2.36 per cent to $64.53 a barrel and weakened the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude by $1.53 or 2.42 per cent to $61.62 per barrel.

The President of the United States, Mr Donald Trump, said yesterday that it was getting close to securing a nuclear deal with Iran, which the oil-producing country said it “sort of” agreed to the terms.

Mr Ali Shamkhani, a top political, military, and nuclear adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader, Mr Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said the Middle East nation was ready to sign a nuclear deal with the US under certain conditions, including the US lifting the sanctions on Iran.

These comments came hours after the US Treasury slapped additional sanctions on Iran, designating nearly two dozen firms operating in multiple jurisdictions in virtually every aspect of Iran’s illicit international oil trade.

The sanctions target Iranian efforts to domestically manufacture components for ballistic missiles, the US Treasury Department said, following Tuesday’s sanctions on some 20 companies in a network that it said has long sent Iranian oil to China.

Russia’s Vladimir Putin ignored meeting face-to-face with his Ukrainian counterpart, Mr Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in Turkey on Thursday, instead sending a second-tier delegation to planned peace talks, dealing a blow to prospects for a peace breakthrough.

Due to Mr Putin’s absence, Ukraine’s president said his defence minister would head up Ukraine’s team.

If the talks hold, it will be the first direct talks between the sides since March 2022.

This is slim as Mr Trump said there would be no movement without a meeting between himself and Putin.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) lifted its oil demand growth forecast in 2025 to 740,000 barrels per day, up 20,000 barrels per day from the previous report, citing higher economic growth forecasts and lower oil prices supporting consumption.

The IEA said economic headwinds and record sales of electric vehicles are expected to reduce demand growth to 650,000 barrels per day for the remainder of the year, from growth of nearly 1 million barrels per day in the first quarter.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allied producers, (OPEC+), has been increasing supply, although OPEC on Wednesday trimmed its forecast for growth in oil supply from the U.S. and other producers outside the wider OPEC+ group this year.

Weighing on prices, data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) on Wednesday showed crude stockpiles rose by 3.5 million barrels to 441.8 million barrels last week.

By Dipo Olowookere

The positive momentum seen at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited in the past few sessions was sustained on Thursday as the platform closed higher by 0.37 per cent.

This was buoyed by renewed appetite for Nigerian stocks, especially by offshore investors, who feel that the equities are currently undervalued.

Honeywell Flour ended the trading session as the best-performing stock, gaining 10.00 per cent to settle at N16.50, just as Nestle Nigeria chalked up 10.00 per cent to close at N1331.00.

Further, Beta Glass appreciated by 9.98 per cent to quote at N213.70, NPF Microfinance Bank gained 9.81 per cent to finish at N2.35, and Neimeth advanced by 9.77 per cent to N3.37.

The worst-performing stock for the day was Multiverse, which tumbled by 9.64 per cent to trade at N8.90, Coronation Insurance went down by 4.74 per cent to N2.01, Lasaco Assurance depreciated by 4.53 per cent to N2.32, May and Baker lost 3.82 per cent to sell for N12.60, and AIICO Insurance slipped by 3.61 per cent to N1.60.

At the close of transactions, 36 shares ended on the gainers’ table and 23 shares finished on the losers’ log, representing a positive market breadth index and bullish investor sentiment.

The consumer goods industry rose by 1.16 per cent during the session, the banking space increased by 0.20 per cent, the industrial goods index jumped by 0.18 per cent, and the commodity counter grew by 0.15 per cent, while the energy sector lost 0.18 per cent, with the insurance sector closing flat.

When the closing gong was beaten by 2:30 pm, the All-Share Index (ASI) was up by 408.31 points to 109,467.64 points from 109,059.33 points and the market capitalisation moved up by N257 billion to N68.801 trillion from N68.544 trillion.

Investors bought and sold 716.1 million equities worth N13.7 billion in 14,559 deals yesterday compared with the 531.2 million equities valued at N19.8 billion transacted in 14,870 deals at midweek, indicating a rise in the trading volume by 34.78 per cent, and a shortfall in the trading value and number of deals by 30.81 per cent and 2.09 per cent apiece.

FCMB topped the activity chart with the sale of 273.0 million stocks for N2.6 billion, Fidelity Bank transacted 43.5 million shares valued at N896.7 million, Caverton exchanged 35.1 million equities worth N144.7 million, AIICO Insurance traded 33.9 million shares for N54.3 million, and FTN Cocoa sold 26.4 million equities worth N63.3 million.