By Adedapo Adesanya

Pressure eased on the Naira on Thursday, January 9, in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) segment of the currency market.

It was the first time the local currency was appreciating against the United States Dollar in the official market this week.

The value of the Naira improved against the greenback yesterday by 0.03 per cent or 47 Kobo to sell for N1,541.23/$1 compared with the preceding day’s N1,541.70/$1.

Equally, the domestic currency gained against the Pound Sterling in the spot market during the trading session by N41.11 to quote at N1,858.51/£1, in contrast to Wednesday’s closing price of N1,899.62/£1 and improved its value against the Euro at NAFEM by N5.78 to trade at N1,589.29/€1 versus N1,584.96/€1.

As for the black market, the Nigerian Naira was stable against the Dollar on Thursday as it remained unchanged at N1,650/$1.

In the cryptocurrency market, profit-taking continued after a major fourth-quarter 2024 rally spurred by Donald Trump’s November victory and the hope of a friendlier regulatory environment out of Washington DC.

Also supporting the market was the US Federal Reserve having cut its overnight interest rate by 100 basis points since September. However, that has been cut out after a series of economic reports showed the US economy and inflation have been far stronger than markets and the US central bank expected.

Bitcoin (BTC) went down yesterday by 0.03 per cent to finish at $94,130.63, Dogecoin (DOGE) recorded a value depreciation of 1.9 per cent to sell at $0.3314, Ripple (XRP) also slumped by 1.9 per cent to $2.30, Solana (SOL) fell 1.7 per cent to trade at $190.50, Ethereum (ETH) dropped 1.5 per cent to end at $3,268.93, and Binance Coin (BNB) went south 0.9 per cent to settle at $692.52.

On the flip side, Litecoin (LTC) increased its price by 1.9 per cent end at $104.26 and Cardano (ADA) leapt by 0.6 per cent to close at $0.9359, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 apiece.

By Adedapo Adesanya

Oil prices rose more than 1 per cent on Thursday as cold weather affected some parts of the United States and Europe, boosting winter fuel demand.

Yesterday, Brent crude futures were up by 76 cents or 1 per cent at $76.92 a barrel and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures grew by 60 cents or 0.82 per cent to $73.92 per barrel.

In some US states like Texas and Virginia, there were reports of winter storm warnings on Thursday and this has led to diesel futures trading at their highest levels since early October 2024.

Analysts estimated that for the US, Europe and Japan, for every degree Fahrenheit, the temperature drops below its 10-year average, it translates to an increase of 113,000 barrels per day in demand for heating oil and propane.

Extreme winter conditions can lead to disruptions in oil supplies as freezing temperatures may cause temporary freeze-offs and production cuts.

Meanwhile, in his last days as US President, Mr Joe Biden will announce new sanctions targeting Russia’s economy.

The administration is trying to bolster Ukraine’s war effort against Russia before President-elect Donald Trump takes office on January 20. A key target of sanctions so far has been Russia’s oil industry.

The second coming of Mr Trump to the White House has sparked crude oil traders are buying more oil futures due to possible sanctions on Iran and tariffs.

The President-elect has made no secret of his attitude toward Iran, and he demonstrated that during his first term when he withdrew the largest oil producer from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, commonly referred to as the Iran nuclear deal, and slapped back sanctions that the JCPOA had put an end to previously.

The Biden administration that took over in 2020 did not pay as much attention to Iran and sanction enforcement.

As a result, Iran boosted both its production of crude oil and exports, with the latter jumping by over 10 per cent in 2024 to a total of 587 million barrels.

With sanctions in place, the majority of Iran’s barrels went to China, a move that suggests that whatever way Mr Trump chooses to tighten sanction enforcement, it would have an impact on US-Chinese relations.

Pressure came as the US Dollar strengthened further on Thursday.

A stronger makes oil expensive for holders of other currencies, making prices weaker.

By Dipo Olowookere

The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited rallied by 1.25 per cent on Thursday as the market regained the confidence of investors after a panic selling on Tuesday.

Business Post reports that the value of Nigeria’s stock exchange was up during the trading session by N792 billion to N64.351 trillion from N63.559 trillion as the All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 1,300.01 points to 105,530.74 points from 104,230.73 points.

This happened because of the bargain-hunting activities at the bourse, with significant interest in shares in the banking, consumer goods and energy sectors, leaving their respective indices up by 1.70 per cent, 0.46 per cent, and 0.04 per cent.

However, the insurance and the industrial goods sectors witnessed profit-taking, keeping them down by 1.38 per cent and 0.17 per cent, respectively.

The level of activity waned yesterday as the trading volume, value and number of deals went down by 35.29 per cent, 46.96 per cent, and 3.99 per cent, respectively.

A total of 489.5 million shares worth N13.1 billion exchanged hands in 13,010 deals on Thursday versus the 756.4 million shares valued at N24.7 billion transacted in 13,551 deals on Wednesday.

Universal Insurance topped the activity chart with 97.2 million equities valued at N72.2 million, AIICO Insurance traded 54.2 million shares for N104.2 million, Sovereign Trust Insurance exchanged 25.0 million stocks worth N37.6 million, FBN Holdings sold 16.2 million equities valued at N500.4 million, and Guinea Insurance transacted 14.6 million stocks worth N13.9 million.

Investor sentiment was strong yesterday after Customs Street ended with 35 appreciating shares and 25 depreciating share, representing a positive market breadth index.

MTN Nigeria further gained 10.00 per cent to trade at N242.00, Honeywell Flour jumped by 9.89 per cent to N9.11, Universal Insurance chalked up 9.86 per cent to finish at 78 Kobo, Transcorp Hotels rose by 9.78 per cent to N127.35, and Ikeja Hotel grew by 9.31 per cent to N13.50.

On the flip side, RT Briscoe depreciated by 10.00 per cent to N2.34, Sunu Assurances lost 9.99 per cent to N8.11, The Initiates slumped by 9.68 per cent to N2.52, UPDC tumbled by 9.50 per cent to N1.81, and Guinea Insurance declined by 8.08 per cent to 91 Kobo.