Investors Anticipate N226.7b Maturing T-Bills, Ease in Financial System Liquidity

By Adedapo Adesanya The Naira started the first trading session in the last month of 2023 on a negative note after it depreciated against the Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM), which is the official FX window, by 11.4 per cent or N94.87 on Friday, December 1, closing at N927.19/$1, in contrast to Thursday’s exchange rate of N832.32/$1. The December rush for forex contributed to the weakening of the domestic currency in the spot market yesterday, as the supply of foreign currency could not meet what customers needed. Data showed that the value of FX transactions recorded

By Dipo Olowookere The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited commenced the first trading session in December 2023 on a bullish note, with a marginal growth of 0.08 per cent. Sustained buying pressure kept Nigerian stocks in the positive territory, extending the dominance of the bulls on Customs Street, though the turnover waned. Business Post observed that investors cherry-picked equities in the banking and the energy sectors during the session, leaving them rising by 1.14 per cent and 0.05 per cent, respectively. However, the insurance counter lost 1.10 per cent, the consumer goods index depreciated by 0.08 per cent, and the industrial

By Adedapo Adesanya  Oil prices rose by more than $1 a barrel on Wednesday as investors focused their attention on an upcoming OPEC+ output policy meeting and looked past a jump in crude stockpiles in the United States. Brent crude futures were up by $1.01 or 1.2 per cent to $82.69 per barrel, and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gained $1.16 or 1.5 per cent to close at $77.57 a barrel. Prices were lifted by a media report that the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies such as Russia, known collectively as OPEC+, was considering

By Dipo Olowookere An offshore company from China has expressed its intention to invest additional $3 billion in the Nigerian oil and gas sector. The firm, China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), had earlier invested over $14 billion in its Nigerian operations. But during a meeting between its top executives and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) held in Abuja, the company said it was impressed with situations in the country and would raise its investment in Nigeria to over $17 billion. CNOOC has existing stakes in offshore oil and gas operations in the Nigerian jurisdiction. Chief Executive Officer of

By Dipo Olowookere Yesterday, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) sold fresh treasury bills to investors via the primary market auction (PMA). During the exercise, market players significantly oversubscribed the one-year T-bills 250 percent with rates reducing marginally by 0.02 percent to 13.48 percent from 13.50 percent it cleared in the previous PMA. Subscriptions worth N419.49 billion were received for the N168.36 billion worth of the 364-day bills offered by the apex bank. However, the 91-day and 182-day bills were not significantly oversubscribed by market players at the Wednesday’s auction. For the 91-day bills, the central bank received subscriptions valued

By Dipo Olowookere The additional shares sold to investors from the rights issue of eTranzact Plc have been listed on the trading floor of the Nigerian Exchange Limited. The fresh equities were admitted into the exchange on Monday, April 12, 2021, and they were 2,434,566,483 in total. This development has now increased the total issued and fully paid-up shares of eTranzact to 6,634,566,483 from 4,200,000,000. Business Post recalls that eTranzact, which operates in the highly competitive financial technology (fintech) industry, had intended to sell a total of 4,666,666,667 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each at N1.50 per unit on the

By Cordros Capital Analysts at Cordros Capital have disclosed that the overnight money market rate surged 3675 bps to 59.25 percent, from last week’s 22.50 percent, reflecting tight liquidity position for the week. The rate rose to as high as 107.75 percent during the week, the highest since June, before moderating to 52.21 percent on Thursday amid an inflow of N113.05 billion via matured OMO bills. This week’s sizable expansion is attributable to the persistent withdrawal via OMO auctions held by the apex bank throughout the week save for Tuesday. In all, N83.43 billion (vs. N180 billion offered) was sold,

By Adedapo Adesanya The World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have warned Nigeria, South Africa and other low-income nations to be careful with activities of the International Financial Institutions (IFIs) such as the African Development Bank (AfDB), Asian Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and others because these international lenders are adding to their heavy debt profiles. Speaking at at a World Bank-IMF Debt Forum on Monday in Washington DC, president of the World Bank, Mr David Malpass, noted that these development banks and IFIs were further worsening already-challenging debt situations. “We have a

By Investors Hub The major US index futures are pointing to a roughly flat on Tuesday following the strength seen in the previous session. Traders may be reluctant to make any significant moves following the upward move on Monday, which lifted the Dow and the S&P 500 to new record closing highs. Another light day on the U.S. economic front may also keep traders on the sidelines ahead of the release of reports on new and existing home sales and leading economic indicators in the coming days. Stocks moved mostly higher during trading on Monday following the mixed performance seen

By Dipo Olowookere The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has urged the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to make forex available to telecommunications companies operating in the country. Also, the agency said it is insisting on quality service from the firms. The NCC said it is very worried by the degenerating Quality of Service (QoS) provided by Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) and other service providers in the country. According to the Executive Vice Chairman of NCC, Prof. Umar Danbatta, the agency has written to the CBN Governor, Mr Godwin Emefiele, as part of measures to cushion the situation and ameliorate the

By Adedapo Adesanya President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed Senator Margery Chuba Okadigbo as the new Chairman of the board of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited. She is the wife of late former Senate President, Mr Chuba Okadigbo. She will replace Mr Ifeanyi Ararume, who was appointed four months ago. In a statement issued on Wednesday by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, President Buhari made the appointment in accordance with the power handed to him in the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) 2021. The Group General Manager of the company, Mr Mele