Economy
Fresh Advancement in COVID-19 Vaccine Lifts Oil Prices Monday
By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil prices pointed north on Monday as news of another potential vaccine breakthrough increased investors’ confidence in the market.
The value of the commodity shot up yesterday after Moderna said that the Phase 3 study of its vaccine candidate, which had more than 30,000 participants enrolled in the United States, met statistical criteria with a vaccine efficacy of 94.5 per cent.
This information pushed the price of the Brent crude higher by $1.06 or 2.48 per cent to sell at $43.84 per barrel, while the United States’ West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude went up by $1.23 or 3.09 per cent to $41.39 per barrel.
Moderna said it plans to file for an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the coming weeks and submit applications for authorisations to global regulatory agencies.
Moderna’s vaccine news comes a week after Pfizer and BioNTech announced a 90 per cent efficacy of their COVID-19 vaccine candidate, sending oil prices soaring almost 10 per cent last Monday.
A vaccine for many people around the world will unlikely be available until late into 2021, but the oil market received the news with open arms.
Another bullish news that helped oil prices on Monday was the new data showing a rebound in the world’s second and third largest economies, China and Japan respectively.
Data indicated that China, the world’s largest importer of crude oil, throughput rose 2.6 per cent in October from a year earlier to its highest-ever level as fuel demand firmed on strong holiday travel.
The country processed 59.82 million tonnes of crude oil last month, equivalent to 14.09 million barrels per day, according to data from the country’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday compared with 13.96 million barrels per day in September, topping the previous daily record set in June at 14.08 million barrels per day.
Market analysts also noted that plans that the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, OPEC+ would maintain lower output next year supported prices.
OPEC and its allies, including Russia, have been cutting production by about 7.7 million barrels a day with a compliance rate seen at 101 per cent in October and had planned to increase output by 2 million barrels per day from January 2021.
OPEC+ is set to hold a ministerial committee meeting on Tuesday, November 17 (today) that could recommend changes to production quotas when all the ministers meet on November 30 and December 1.
The group faces a challenge, however, in that Libya is now producing more than 1.2 barrels per day and new restrictions in the United States and Europe could dampen the global demand recovery.
Economy
BNB Price Reflects Changing Dynamics in the Digital Asset Market
Economy
NASD Unlisted Security Index Crosses 4,000-point Benchmark Again
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange achieved a milestone on Friday, April 24, 2026, after five securities on the platform helped with a 1.85 per cent growth.
Data showed that the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) again crossed the 4,000-point benchmark yesterday.
The index chalked up 73.64 points during the trading day to close at 4,052.59 points compared with the preceding session’s 3,978.95 points, while the market capitalisation added N5.38 billion to finish at N2.424 trillion versus Thursday’s closing value of N2.380 trillion.
The price gainers were led by Okitipupa Plc, which grew by N25.00 to sell at N305.00 per share compared with the previous price of N280.00 per share. Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc gained N6.92 to close at N76.26 per unit versus N69.34 per unit, Afriland Properties Plc appreciated by N1.00 to N17.00 per share from N18.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc improved by 55 Kobo to N99.55 per unit from N99.00 per unit, and Food Concepts Plc increased by 5 Kobo to N2.70 per share from N2.65 per share.
However, there was a price loser, MRS Oil, which dipped by N21.75 to N195.75 per unit from N217.50 per unit.
During the final session of the week, the value of securities jumped 75.2 per cent to N41.3 million from N23.6 million units, and the number of deals expanded by 62.9 per cent to 44 deals from 27 deals, while the volume of securities declined marginally by 0.9 per cent to 447,403 units from 451,522 units.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc was the most traded stock by volume (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, trailed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units traded for N1.2 billion.
GNI was also the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 59.6 million units transacted for N4.0 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.8 million units exchanged for N1.9 billion.
Economy
Naira Slips to N1,358/$1 as FX Reserves, Policy Uncertainty Concerns
By Adedapo Adesanya
It was not a good day for the Nigerian Naira in the currency market on Friday, April 24, as its value depreciated against the major foreign currencies at the close of transactions.
In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX), it lost N4.53 or 0.33 per cent against the United States Dollar yesterday to trade at N1,358.44/$1, in contrast to the N1,353.91/$1 it was exchanged on Thursday.
Equally, the domestic currency slipped against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N8.14 to close at N1,834.02/£1, compared with the previous rate of N1,825.88/£1 and dropped N8.01 against the Euro to sell at N1,590.73/€1 versus N1,582.72/€1.
Also, the Naira depreciated against the US Dollar at the GTBank FX desk on Friday by N4 to quote at N1,370/$1 compared with the previous session’s N1,366/$1, and at the parallel market, it depleted by N5 to settle at N1,380/$1 versus the preceding day’s N1,375/$1.
Data published by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) indicated that NFEM interbank turnover surged to N43.562 million across 68 deals, up from N28.117 million the previous day.
Despite the CBN’s reassurance that the recent drop in external reserves is not worrisome, the market remains unsettled by persistent concerns over liquidity constraints, policy transparency, and weakening confidence in Nigeria’s FX market as gross reserves continue to decline to $48.4 billion.
The outlook for the Dollar appears supported by broader macro risks, including elevated oil prices tied to the tanker traffic disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and a continued US-Iran standoff over ceasefire negotiations.
A look at the digital currency market showed that investors are sitting on the edge as the US Dollar rebounded amid geopolitical and inflation risks despite continued inflows into US spot bitcoin Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).
Solana (SOL) rose by 1.2 per cent to sell $86.45, Cardano (ADA) appreciated by 1.1 per cent to $0.2517, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 0.9 per cent to $0.0989, Ripple (XRP) improved by 0.3 per cent to $1.43, Ethereum (ETH) soared by 0.2 per cent to $2,316.83, and Binance Coin (BNB) chalked up 0.1 per cent to sell for $637.44.
However, TRON (TRX) depreciated by 1.3 per cent to $0.3235, and Bitcoin (BTC) lost 0.2 per cent to close at $77,562.27, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.
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