By Adedapo Adesanya

The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange was lifted by 6.06 per cent on Monday, December 8 by four stocks led by Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, which gained N3.20 to close at N43.00 per share compared with the previous price of N39.80 per share.

FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc appreciated during the first trading day of the week by N1.88 to sell at N58.45 per unit versus N56.57 per unit, Food Concepts Plc improved by 25 Kobo to N3.40 per share from N3.15 per share, and Acorn Petroleum Plc expanded by 3 Kobo to close at N1.20 per unit, in contrast to last Friday’s N1.17 per unit..

As a result, the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) jumped by 206.15 points to 3,607.52 points from 3,401.37 points and the market capitalisation chalked up N123.34 billion to settle at N2.158 billion compared with the N2.035 trillion it ended in the preceding session.

The volume of securities traded at the session plunged by 99.7 per cent to 58,300 units from the previous 18.2 million units, the value of securities went down by 99.5 per cent to N1.9 million from N389.7 million, and the number of deals decreased by 46.2 per cent to 14 deals from 26 deals recorded in the previous trading session.

When trading activities ended for the day, Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit) Plc remained the most traded stock by value with a year-to-date sale of 5.8 billion units worth N16.4 billion, followed by Okitipupa Plc with 171.8 million units transacted for N8.3 billion, and Air Liquide Plc with 507.6 million units valued at N4.2 billion.

InfraCredit Plc also finished the trading session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units traded for N16.4 billion, trailed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 1.2 billion units sold for N420.3 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with a turnover of 537.0 million units worth N524.9 million.

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira depreciated further against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Monday, December 8 by N1.43 or 0.09 per cent to close at N1,451.86/$1 compared with last Friday’s closing price of N1,450.43/$1.

The Nigerian Naira also weakened against the Euro in the official market during the session by N1.96 to settle at N1,689.17/€1 versus the preceding session’s value of N1,688.74/€1, but gained N70 Kobo against Pound Sterling to sell for N1,934.75/£1 compared with the previous trading day’s rate of N1,935.45/£1.

At the GTBank forex counter, the value of the Nigerian currency crashed by N3 against the Dollar yesterday to trade at N1,458/$1 versus last Friday’s N1,455/$1 and closed flat in the black market at N1,465/$1.

The local currency faces pressures from increasing year-end Dollar demand, stoked by imports and some multinationals repatriating US Dollars abroad.

Intervention from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in the face of steady dollar Demand and inflows from Detty December festivities have helped dilute the pressure, but they remain.

The Naira is expected to trade within a band of N1,443-N1,450/$1 in the spot market this week, buoyed by improved FX interventions by the apex bank.

The CBN came to market to support the Naira with $100 million in FX sales to banks and other authorised dealers with the aim of strengthening aggregate US Dollar liquidity.

A look at the cryptocurrency market showed that prices were down on Monday as participants remain pessimistic after one of the sector’s ugliest November performances since 2018, even as new data showed Europe led the month’s sell pressure by a wide margin.

The broader financial market held its recent rebound, though liquidity remained thin ahead of Wednesday’s US Federal Reserve decision, with Solana (SOL) down by 2.4 per cent to $132.50.

Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 1.8 per cent to $887.34, Ripple (XRP) depreciated by 1.7 per cent to $2.04, Bitcoin (BTC) fell by 1.6 per cent to $90,179.65, Dogecoin (DOGE) slid by 1.5 per cent to $0.1400, Litecoin (LTC) weakened by 1.0 per cent to $82.82, Ethereum (ETH) dropped by 0.8 per cent to $3,111.37, and Cardano (ADA) depreciated by 0.7 per cent to $0.4258, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.

By Adedapo Adesanya

Oil prices slipped 2 per cent on Monday after Iraq restored production at one of its oilfields while investors weighed ongoing talks to end the war in Ukraine.

Brent crude futures were down $1.26 or 1.98 per cent to $62.49 a barrel, and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was down by $1.20 or 2 per cent to close at $58.88 per barrel.

Iraq restored production at Lukoil’s West Qurna 2 oilfield, one of the world’s largest, after a leak on an export pipeline slashed its output.

West Qurna-2 is one of the world’s largest oilfields, producing roughly 460,000 barrels per day and holding an estimated 13 billion barrels of recoverable reserves—about 10 per cent of Iraq’s total output. Lukoil operates the field with a 75 per cent stake, while the Iraqi government owns the remainder. The temporary outage raised concerns due to the field’s strategic importance, but officials now say the issue has been resolved and flows are returning to normal.

The oilfield has been under force majeure since November after sanctions by the US and UK disrupted operations.

Markets are meanwhile pricing in an 84 per cent chance of a quarter-point cut at the Fed meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Progress on Ukraine peace talks remains slow, with disputes over security guarantees for Ukraine and the status of Russian-occupied territory still unresolved even as US President Donald Trump presses for a deal.

Some of the critical amendments in the new plan include no handover of the Donbas region to Russia for free, no automatic veto on Ukraine joining NATO in the future and provision of Article 5-style protection for Ukraine, meaning the US would be bound to intervene if Russia invades in the future.

Market analysts warned that any geopolitical risk premium will be weighed against signs of a growing global surplus, with rising Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) and non-OPEC supply outpacing modest demand growth.

Also, Group of Seven (G7) countries and the European Union are in talks to replace a price cap on Russian oil exports with a full maritime services ban. This would likely further curb supply from the world’s second-largest oil producer.

Elsewhere, the US has also ramped up pressure on OPEC member Venezuela, including strikes against boats it said were attempting to smuggle illegal drugs, and talk of military action to overthrow President Nicolas Maduro.