Economy

Oil Dips Monday Despite Signing of Stimulus Bill

Published

6 years ago

29/12/2020

By Adedapo Adesanya

Crude prices slumped on Monday after the Christmas break despite positive indicators such as vaccine approvals in the United Kingdom and the signing of the United States’ stimulus bill.

During the session, the Brent crude lost 37 cents or 0.73 per cent to trade at $50.92 per barrel while the US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures moved down by 1.1 per cent or 53 cents to trade at $47.70 per barrel.

Oil was expected to rise as the UK is set to grant regulatory approval to another COVID-19 vaccine as reports noted that Britain’s drug regulator could clear the shot produced by AstraZeneca Plc and the University of Oxford for use as early as this week.

The AstraZeneca shot would likely be rolled out next week if approved in the next few days and would be added to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, which has so far been given to 600,000 in the UK, according to government statistics.

The Oxford-AstraZeneca candidate would allow the country to significantly ramp up its inoculation program, given its development in the UK. It’s also much cheaper than others and does not need to be kept at ultra-low temperatures.

Despite this, the oil market refused to sway in the expected direction even following the passing of the US stimulus bill into law.

President Donald Trump signed the long-awaited bill containing $900 billion of virus relief that’s expected to boost energy demand in the world’s largest economy. He had previously expressed his displeasure with the package that Congress approved last week.

The massive bill includes $1.4 trillion to fund government agencies through September and contains other end-of-session priorities such as money for cash-starved transit systems and an increase in food stamp benefits.

Also, the market will be expecting the next possible outcome as the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) prepares to meet next week (January 4).

Indications of changing sentiment among its members on their previously-agreed cuts are being watched closely.

The OPEC+ alliance plans to return 500,000 barrels a day of output to the market from January.

Traders are weighing the demand risk of more travel restrictions as a result of a new mutation in the coronavirus, against optimism over vaccine rollouts, which will eventually boost energy demand.

There are also reports that the new variant is stalling the economic recovery in some parts of Asia.

President Trump, meanwhile, has raised geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, accusing Iran of being responsible for a rocket attack near the US embassy in Baghdad.

The country’s Foreign Ministry said the claims were baseless while the country’s oil minister said this month that Iran was planning to double its production in 2021, which will clash with OPEC+ efforts to gradually increase supply without flooding the market.

Economy

Shareholders Approve Fresh N30bn Capital Raise for Neimeth

Published

12 minutes ago

30/06/2026

Aduragbemi Omiyale

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

The board of Neimeth International Pharmaceuticals Plc can raise an additional N30 billion from the capital market, shareholders have declared.

They gave the authorisation for this fresh capital raise at the company’s 67th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held virtually on Thursday, June 25, 2026.

This was one of the resolutions passed at the yearly shareholders’ gathering, attended by several persons, including board and management members as well as investors and others.

The approval for new capital raise is coming after the board was, on June 23, 2025, authorised to raise up to N20.0 billion. For this tranche, only N2.440 billion was raised by the organisation, leaving an untilised balance of approximately N17.560 billion.

The company has now been given the authority to get fresh N30.0 billion, according to disclosure from Neimeth.

In the notice to the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited, Neimeth said the board was asked to “raise additional capital of up to N30.0 billion through an issuance of shares (to be issued, whether by way of public offering, rights issue, private/special placement to strategic or identified investors), commercial papers, bonds, convertible and non-convertible securities), medium term notes and/or any other instruments, either as a stand-alone or by way of programmes, in such tranches, series or proportions, at such coupon or interest rates, within such maturity periods, or on such terms and conditions, through a combination of methods or processes, all of which shall be based on terms and conditions to be determined by the board and subject to obtaining the approvals of the relevant regulatory authorities.”

The shareholders resolved that “the aggregate shareholders’ approval for capital raising shall accordingly be N50.0 billion, of which approximately N2.440 billion has already been raised by way of rights issue, leaving an unutilised balance of approximately N47.560 billion available for raising.”

Economy

NASD OTC Sheds 0.36% as FrieslandCampina, Food Concepts Retreat

Published

1 hour ago

30/06/2026

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The duo of FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc and Food Concepts Plc helped root the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange in negative territory, following a 0.36 per cent slide on Monday, June 29.

FrieslandCampina, which is the maker of milk brands Peak Milk and Three Crowns, lost N13.44 to trade at N141.76 per unit compared with its previous price of N155.2o per unit, while Food Concepts, which is the parent company of fast food giant Chicken Republic, declined by 8 Kobo to end at N2.43 per share versus last Friday’s price of N2.51 per share.

Consequently, the NASD Security Index (NSI) slid by 15.51 points to 4,261.56 points from 4,277.07 points, and the market capitalisation lost N9.31 billion to close at N2.557 trillion compared with the previous value of N2.567 trillion.

The bourse finished with two price advancers yesterday, with Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc up by N3.80 to trade at N88.48 per unit versus N84.68 per unit, and Nitrox Industrial Gases Plc gaining 31 Kobo to end at N21.40 per share versus N21.09 per share.

The volume of securities traded by investors on the first trading day of the week contracted by 75.9 per cent to 229,314 units from the previous 955,096 units, and the value of securities slumped 17.8 per cent to N24.6 million from N29.9 million, while the number of deals increased by 9.7 per cent to 34 deals from the 31 deals recorded last Friday.

At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc was the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units valued at N8.4 billion, followed by Infrastructure Credit Guarantee (Infracredit) Plc with 2.3 billion units sold for N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 68.7 million units transacted for N4.7 billion.

GNI Plc also closed the day as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units exchanged for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc followed with 1.1 billion units traded for N415.7 million

Economy

Naira Crashes to N1,383 Per Dollar at NAFEX

Published

3 hours 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.