Economy

Oil Continues Recovery amid US-China Trade Spat

Published

7 years ago

20/08/2019

By Adedapo Adesanya

An escalating trade war between the world’s two largest economies is negatively impacting the outlook for U.S. crude shipments, energy analysts have warned, amid fears that China could soon dramatically reduce its intake of American oil.

Oil prices have since pared some of their recent loss. International benchmark Brent blend traded at $59.75 on Monday (9PM Nigerian Time), up around 1.89 percent while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) Crude stood at $56. 13, recording a 2.41 percent increase.

Trade tensions between Washington and Beijing prompted some external observers to warn the outlook for China-bound U.S. crude shipments was firmly skewed to the downside.

“Casting another dark cloud over the outlook for U.S. crude shipments is the ongoing U.S.-China trade impasse,” Stephen Brennock, oil analyst at PVM Oil Associates, said in a research note.

It was around this time last year that China emerged as the biggest buyer of U.S. crude, Brennock said, but Chinese buyers were now seen as a “virtual shoo-in” to halt their intake of American oil.

He explained that while losing what was once your biggest customer could hardly be conducive to sustained growth, any drop-off in Chinese purchases might be offset by an increase in exports to other consumers.

“All things considered, the U.S. crude-export machine may struggle to maintain its record-breaking run,” Brennock said.

At the start of August, President Donald Trump announced the White House would impose additional 10% tariffs on $300 billion worth of Chinese imports from September 1.

In response, China let its yuan weaken below the key 7-per-dollar level for the first time in more than a decade. Trump appeared to escalate tensions even further by declaring China as a currency manipulator.

The tit-for-tat dispute sent oil prices tumbling, with crude futures dropping to a seven-month low at one stage.

The last loading of U.S. crude to leave the Gulf of Mexico declaring for China left on August 6, Smith said, citing data sourced by ClipperData. He explained it was important to note that a lag of more than one week between loadings was “not unusual.”

China, the world’s largest oil buyer, was one of the leading destinations of U.S. crude throughout the first half of last year — in what had been a mutually beneficial energy relationship with the U.S., the world’s biggest crude producer.

However, Beijing’s U.S. crude imports plummeted almost immediately after the trade war talk started, with flows completely drying up at the turn of the year as the situation deteriorated.

Economy

Naira Crashes to N1,383 Per Dollar at NAFEX

Published

22 minutes ago

30/06/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

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.

Economy

NGX Diarrhoea Persists, Further Loses 1.57% Amid Panic Sell-Offs

Published

2 hours ago

30/06/2026

Dipo Olowookere

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.

Economy

Oil Prices Climb Over 1% as Fragile US-Iran Truce Faces New Concerns

Published

3 hours ago

30/06/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

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.