Economy
Nigerian Treasury Bills Rate Jumps to 5.50% as Demand Rises
By Dipo Olowookere
The stop rates of Nigerian treasury bills witnessed an increase at the primary market on Wednesday when the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) approached the market with N77.6 billion worth of the asset class.
As usual, the appetite of investors for the investment tool remained high and in order not to disrupt this, the apex bank decided to raise the rates.
According to details of the exercise, market participants staked N113.1 billion on the treasury bills offered in three different maturities.
However, much of the subscriptions were for the long end of the curve as the short and mid-tenors suffered low subscriptions.
Business Post reports that the 91-day bill received bids worth N2.5 billion of the N4.2 billion auctioned by the central bank, while bids worth N2.3 billion were received for the 182-day bill, lower than the N7.5 billion offered for sale.
But the 364-day bill recorded subscriptions valued at N108.3 billion, higher than the N65.9 billion brought to the market for sale.
In terms of the allotment, the CBN sold N2.2 billion for the three-month instrument, N1.5 billion for the six-month T-bills and allotted N53.9 billion worth of the 12-month bill.
From the analysis, the central bank only sold N57.6 billion worth of the treasury bills to traders at the primary market yesterday, significantly lower than what it intended to sell.
As for the stop rates, the apex bank raised the 91-day bill to 2.50 per cent from the preceding exercise’s 2.49 per cent, while the one-year bill cleared at 5.50 per cent compared with the previous PMA’s 4.90 per cent, with the 182-day tenor slashed to 3.44 per cent from 3.45 per cent.
From what happened yesterday, investors should be expecting another rate hike at the next exercise so as to further jerk up the hunger for treasury bills at the fixed income market in Nigeria, especially at a time inflation rate remains high in double figures.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The value of the Naira crashed against the United States Dollar by N2.70 0r 0.2 per cent in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Monday, June 29, to N1,383.63/$1 from last Friday’s exchange rate of N1,380.93/$1.
This was influenced by FX pressure on the domestic currency, which also weakened its exchange rate against the Pound Sterling in the same market segment during the session by N6.06 to N1,831.64/£1 from the previous value of N1,824.90/£1. It also depleted the Nigerian currency against the Euro by 45 Kobo, trading at N1,578.03/€1 versus the preceding session’s N1,577.58/€1.
However, it maintained stability against the greenback at the parallel market and the GTBank forex desk yesterday at N1,395/$1 and N1,387/$1, respectively.
Despite the pressure on the Naira, it is still trading within the expected range, as a result of ongoing FX reforms, stronger market liquidity, and increased transparency in the FX market.
Unlike in previous years, the improved stability is reflected in the relatively narrow spread between the official exchange rate and rates in the Bureau de Change (BDC) segment, suggesting that reforms introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) are helping to improve price discovery and reduce distortions.
Also, Nigeria’s external reserves, which provide the apex bank with the capacity to support the Naira and meet the country’s external obligations, have continued to trend upward. Most recent data published on the apex bank’s website showed that reserves rose to $51.29 billion as of June 26, 2026.
In the cryptocurrency market, Bitcoin (BTC) lost momentum after it dropped below $60,000, remaining under its 200-week moving average as currency markets swung following the Japanese Yen slipping to four-decade lows against the US Dollar.
Strategy, the largest public holder of bitcoin, plans to sell more than $1 billion of BTC as part of a $1.25 billion monetisation program, a sharp break from Michael Saylor’s long-held “never sell” stance. BTC traded at $59,463.89.
Dogecoin (DOGE) went down by 0.9 per cent to $0.0723, TRON (TRX) slipped by 0.8 per cent to $0.3196, Cardano (ADA) dipped 0.2 per cent to $0.1446, and Ripple (XRP) dropped 0.1 per cent to close at $1.04.
On the flip side, Solana (SOL) gained 2.5 per cent to sell at $73.99, Ethereum (ETH) improved by 0.4 per cent to $1,587.51, and Binance Coin (BNB) added 0.01 per cent to sell for $552.58, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
By Dipo Olowookere
Panic sell-offs by investors have left the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited losing weight very fast, as it further gave up 1.57 per cent on Monday.
Yesterday, only 17 equities ended on the advancers’ log, while 45 equities finished on the laggards’ chart, representing a negative market breadth index and weak investor sentiment.
All the major sectors of the bourse tasted defeat during the session, with the insurance counter down by 1.33 per cent. The banking space lost 1.22 per cent, the consumer goods index depreciated by 0.63 per cent, the industrial goods segment shed 0.39 per cent, and the energy sector tumbled by 0.06 per cent.
Consequently, the All-Share Index (ASI) stumbled by 3,682.70 points to 228,366.32 points from 232,049.02 points, and the market capitalisation slipped by N2.363 trillion to N146.542 trillion from N148.905 trillion.
Learn Africa lost 10.00 per cent to close at N9.00, MTN Nigeria also declined by 10.00 per cent to N747.00, Unilever Nigeria crashed by 10.00 per cent to N126.00, Austin Laz dropped 9.94 per cent to settle at N3.17, and Universal Insurance dipped by 9.90 per cent to quote at N28.12.
Conversely, Sovereign Trust Insurance gained 4.08 per cent to end at N2.04, Cornerstone Insurance chalked up 3.45 per cent to trade at N6.00, Neimeth appreciated by 3.03 per cent to N8.50, Livestock Feeds climbed by 1.92 per cent to N7.95, and C&I Leasing grew by 1.90 per cent to N5.35.
Business Post observed a surge in activity level on the first trading day of this week, with the trading volume, value, and number of deals up by 156.37 per cent, 137.50 per cent, and 38.50 per cent.
This was because market participants transacted 996.5 million stocks worth N43.7 billion in 61,813 deals on Monday compared with the 388.7 million stocks valued at N18.4 billion traded in 44,631 deals last Friday.
Ikeja Hotel exchanged 305.5 million shares for N13.2 billion, Access Holdings sold 289.9 million equities worth N6.6 billion, Dangote Sugar traded 29.4 million stocks valued at N1.9 billion, Chams transacted 22.0 million shares worth N87.9 million, and Zenith Bank traded 21.2 million equities for N2.4 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil prices settled higher by more than 1 per cent on Monday after attacks by the United States and Iran underscored the fragility of their interim peace deal.
Brent crude futures gained $1.16 or 1.61 per cent to sell at $73.15 a barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude appreciated by $1.52 or 2.2 per cent to $70.75 per barrel.
The latest price movement appears to suggest that the market is concerned about a reduction in tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz following attacks on two commercial vessels on Thursday and Friday last week, and a further flare-up over the weekend.
The Thursday attack on the container ship Ever Lovely prompted some shipowners to pull back and wait for additional information about how safe transiting the Strait is. The US military on Friday carried out strikes on Iran in response to the attack on the vessel.
On Saturday, an Iranian attack on a Panama-flagged oil tanker, Kiku, while it was transiting the Strait of Hormuz, prompted additional strikes by the U.S. forces.
After the flare-up this weekend, the US and Iran appear to have agreed to cease attacks ahead of tentatively planned new talks this week.
Iranian and US technical teams working on the implementation of an interim peace deal are expected to meet in Doha in the coming days, even after both sides carried out strikes over the weekend that threatened to derail the accord.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said Iranian and Omani experts will start talks on redefining transit paths through the Strait of Hormuz in the coming days, adding that his country will try to obstruct vessels outside of defined paths.
Analysts cautioned that traffic through the strait is far from being fully recovered, helping keep prices somewhat elevated as outbound Persian Gulf crude exports are quickly rebounding to at least 75 per cent of pre-war levels.
Middle East producers are pushing ahead with loading oil and Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) despite fresh ship attacks in the Strait of Hormuz and renewed strikes between the US and Iran in recent days.
Saudi oil giant Aramco resumed crude oil loadings on Friday at its Ras Tanura terminal, west of the Strait of Hormuz, after they were halted for nearly four months. Loadings continued even after a helicopter belonging to the company crashed on Sunday at Ras Tanura, killing 14 nationals. The cause of the crash was unknown.
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