By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira appreciated on the US Dollar on Thursday, January 15 by 76 Kobo or 0.05 per cent in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) to N1,419.28/$1 from the N1,420.04/$1 it was traded in the previous session.

The Naira rallied against the Pound Sterling by N17.74 in the official market during the session to N1,893.35/£1 from N1,911.09/£1 and gained N5.56 on the Euro to close at N1,649.92/€1 versus Wednesday’s closing price of N1,655.48/€1.

At the GTBank forex desk, the Nigerian Naira appreciated against the greenback yesterday by N2 to sell at N1,425/$1 compared with the preceding day’s rate of N1,427/$1, and maintained stability against the Dollar in the parallel market at N1,490/$1.

Thursday’s appreciation was supported by relatively improved supply conditions, which helped to moderate demand pressures, across several FX segments.

Market analysts noted that further intervention from policies and supply from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) will continue to keep the FX market afloat while others including stronger external inflows from foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) and improving current account dynamics, will act as pillars.

Nigeria’s headline inflation rate declined to 15.15 per cent in December 2025 after a tweak to the data following the projection of a temporary “artificial spike” in the country’s December 2025 inflation rate.

The artificial spike is as a result of the base effect of December 2024, which is equated to 100, following the rebasing exercise which changed the base year from 2024 from 2009.

Meanwhile, the cryptocurrency market was down after a US Senate committee postponed a key market structure bill, further cooling sentiment after a recent rally.

The US Senate Banking Committee postponed markup on the market structure bill after opposition from parts of the industry.

Litecoin (LTC) declined by 3.5 per cent to $72.03, Cardano (ADA) slumped by 2.4 per cent to $0.3931, Dogecoin (DOGE) weakened by 2.1 per cent to $0.1401, and Ripple (XRP) slipped by 1.1 per cent to $2.07.

Further, Solana (SOL) depreciated by 0.9 per cent to $143.04, Bitcoin (BTC) slipped by 0.6 per cent to $95,624.34,  Binance Coin (BNB) went down by 0.2 per cent to $933.51, and Ethereum (ETH) shrank by 0.1 per cent to $3,310.08, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) were flat at $1.00 each.

By Dipo Olowookere

The upward trajectory seen at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited in the past sessions was halted on Thursday as a result of profit-taking in Aradel Holdings, MTN Nigeria, GTCO, and others.

Nigerian stocks were down by 0.43 per cent because of the selling pressure. It was the first loss in 2026 and also the first in 23 trading session. The last time Customs Street ended in red was December 10, 2025.

The decision of investors to trim their exposure to equities contracted the All-Share Index (ASI) by 714.66 points during the session to 166,057.29 points from 166,771.95 points and brought down the market capitalisation by N458 billion to N106.323 trillion from N106.781 trillion.

A look at the sectorial performance indicated that the energy, commodity, and insurance indices were down by 2.21 per cent, 1.14 per cent, and 0.24 per cent, respectively, while the banking, consumer goods, and industrial goods sectors were up by 0.78 per cent, 0.33 per cent, and 0.01 per cent apiece.

Yesterday, investor sentiment was weak after the bourse ended with 26 price gainers and 41 price losers, showing a negative market breadth index.

McNichols declined by 9.99 per cent to trade at N6.58, Caverton crashed by 9.47 per cent to N7.65, Ikeja Hotel collapsed by 9.43 per cent to N35.05, FTN Cocoa dropped 9.38 per cent to sell for N7.05, and Neimeth went down by 8.91 per cent to N9.20.

On the flip side, Nestle Nigeria gained 10.00 per cent to quote at N2,153.80, NCR Nigeria appreciated by 9.97 per cent to N116.90, Jaiz Bank improved by 9.92 per cent to N8.20, Morison Industries rose by 9.90 per cent to N5.66, and Mecure Industries grew by 9.84 per cent to N97.70.

During the session, market participants traded 1.0 billion stocks worth N31.6 billion in 51,227 deals compared with the 761.9 million stocks valued at N29.9 billion transacted in 55,751 deals at midweek, representing a drop in the number of deals by 8.12 per cent, and a surge in the trading volume and value by 31.25 per cent, and 5.69 per cent, respectively.

Sovereign Trust Insurance returned on top of the activity chart with 245.2 million units sold for N798.5 million, Access Holdings traded 78.4 million units worth N1.8 billion, Zenith Bank transacted 72.4 million units for N5.0 billion, Jaiz Bank exchanged 53.7 million units valued at N433.9 million, and Lasaco Assurance traded 53.4 million units worth N135.1 million.

By Adedapo Adesanya

Crude oil was down by around 4 per cent on Thursday after the United States President, Mr Donald Trump, said the crackdown on protesters in Iran was easing, calming concerns over potential military action against the Middle-East country and oil supply disruptions.

Brent crude futures depreciated by $2.76 or 4.15 per cent to $63.76 a barrel and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell by $2.83 or 4.56 per cent, to $59.19 a barrel.

President Trump said he had been told that killings during Iran’s crackdown on protests were easing and he believed there was no current plan for large-scale executions, though he warned that the US was still weighing military action against the oil producer, which is a member of the Organisation of the Petroleum Countries (OPEC).

Thousands of people are reported to have been killed in the weeks-long protests, and the American president has vowed to support demonstrators, saying help was “on its way.”

Iran has threatened the US with reprisals were it to be attacked, alongside conciliatory signals, including the suspension of a protester’s execution.

The New York Times reported that many of the US Gulf allies, including several of Iran’s own rivals, have also pushed against a US military intervention, warning that the ripple effects would undermine regional security and damage their reputations as havens for foreign capital.

Regardless, the US withdrew some personnel from military bases in the Middle East, after a senior Iranian official said Iran had told neighbours it would hit American bases if America strikes.

Venezuela has begun reversing oil production cuts made under a US embargo, with crude exports also resuming. The OPEC member’s oil exports fell close to zero in the weeks after the US imposed a blockade on oil shipments in December, with only Chevron exporting crude from its joint ventures with PDVSA under US license.

The embargo left millions of barrels stuck in onshore tanks and vessels. As storage filled, PDVSA was forced to shut wells and order oil production cuts at joint ventures in the country.

With this development, the Venezuelan state oil company is now instructing the joint ventures to resume output from well clusters that were shut.

On the demand side, OPEC said on Wednesday that 2027 oil demand was likely to rise at a similar pace to this year and published data indicating a near balance between supply and demand in 2026, contrasting with other forecasts of a glut.