Economy
Oil Prices to Rise on Lower Demand Forecasts
By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil prices made an average three percent recovery last week as major futures ended the week pointing up as demand improved around possibilities that the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies will come through with the production cuts a technical committee recommended during its meeting two weeks ago.
Also, prices were driven up as investors looked to draw up an optimistic approach despite the worsening case of the coronavirus, now named COVID-19, with the market faced with a lot of bearish outcomes into two months this year.
Brent, the International crude settled at $57.32 per barrel while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude ended the week at $52.05 per barrel.
Although it was earlier believed that China reported the lowest number of new coronavirus cases since the end of January, this eased concerns about a drop-off in demand for oil supporting prices.
However, circumstances changed later in the week after there were reports of 242 new deaths in the Hubei province, where the virus was said to have originated, doubling the number of casualties since the spread started in December.
The COVID-19 has continued to impact the demand for oil and last week, there was a huge drop in demand forecast for oil by organisations and agencies. OPEC said it now expects daily oil demand growth to be 990,000 barrels per day (bpd), which is 230,000 bpd below previous forecasts of 1.22 million barrels per day.
On its part, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said oil demand is set to fall year-on-year in the first quarter for the first time since the financial crisis in 2009, attributing this to the coronavirus outbreak in China.
For the Energy Information Administration (EIA), it said last Wednesday that crude supplies in the United States rose by 7.5 million barrels for the week ended February 7 higher than 2.9 million barrels expected.
Going into this week, Business Post analysts foresee low demand forecasts forcing OPEC and its allies, including Russia, to implement the additional production cuts of 600,000 barrels per day earlier recommended at the February impromptu meeting.
An OPEC+ joint technical committee had recommended extending the output cuts until the end of 2020, with provisions for a temporary deepening of cuts to counter the impact of the coronavirus on the oil markets.
The joint technical committee, which includes Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Russia, the UAE, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kuwait and Nigeria, was said to have recommended additional cuts of 600,000 bpd until the second quarter of the year at the meeting, but Russia said it requires more time to assess the impact of the coronavirus on oil markets before committing to any cuts and said it will consult with other producers.
A positive response from Russia will spur prices up this week but if it continues to hold on, prices may move around gains and losses. However, if it says no to the cut, prices may plunge as low as it did during the global recession of 2009.
As at the time of this report, prices were trading up for the Brent crude at $57.35 per barrel while the US WTI crude was also pointing up at $52.10 per barrel.
Economy
BNB Price Reflects Changing Dynamics in the Digital Asset Market
Economy
NASD Unlisted Security Index Crosses 4,000-point Benchmark Again
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange achieved a milestone on Friday, April 24, 2026, after five securities on the platform helped with a 1.85 per cent growth.
Data showed that the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) again crossed the 4,000-point benchmark yesterday.
The index chalked up 73.64 points during the trading day to close at 4,052.59 points compared with the preceding session’s 3,978.95 points, while the market capitalisation added N5.38 billion to finish at N2.424 trillion versus Thursday’s closing value of N2.380 trillion.
The price gainers were led by Okitipupa Plc, which grew by N25.00 to sell at N305.00 per share compared with the previous price of N280.00 per share. Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc gained N6.92 to close at N76.26 per unit versus N69.34 per unit, Afriland Properties Plc appreciated by N1.00 to N17.00 per share from N18.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc improved by 55 Kobo to N99.55 per unit from N99.00 per unit, and Food Concepts Plc increased by 5 Kobo to N2.70 per share from N2.65 per share.
However, there was a price loser, MRS Oil, which dipped by N21.75 to N195.75 per unit from N217.50 per unit.
During the final session of the week, the value of securities jumped 75.2 per cent to N41.3 million from N23.6 million units, and the number of deals expanded by 62.9 per cent to 44 deals from 27 deals, while the volume of securities declined marginally by 0.9 per cent to 447,403 units from 451,522 units.
At the close of trades, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc was the most traded stock by volume (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units worth N8.4 billion, trailed by Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units valued at N415.7 million, and Infrastructure Guarantee Credit Plc with 400 million units traded for N1.2 billion.
GNI was also the most active stock by value (year-to-date) with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by CSCS Plc with 59.6 million units transacted for N4.0 billion, and Okitipupa Plc with 27.8 million units exchanged for N1.9 billion.
Economy
Naira Slips to N1,358/$1 as FX Reserves, Policy Uncertainty Concerns
By Adedapo Adesanya
It was not a good day for the Nigerian Naira in the currency market on Friday, April 24, as its value depreciated against the major foreign currencies at the close of transactions.
In the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX), it lost N4.53 or 0.33 per cent against the United States Dollar yesterday to trade at N1,358.44/$1, in contrast to the N1,353.91/$1 it was exchanged on Thursday.
Equally, the domestic currency slipped against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N8.14 to close at N1,834.02/£1, compared with the previous rate of N1,825.88/£1 and dropped N8.01 against the Euro to sell at N1,590.73/€1 versus N1,582.72/€1.
Also, the Naira depreciated against the US Dollar at the GTBank FX desk on Friday by N4 to quote at N1,370/$1 compared with the previous session’s N1,366/$1, and at the parallel market, it depleted by N5 to settle at N1,380/$1 versus the preceding day’s N1,375/$1.
Data published by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) indicated that NFEM interbank turnover surged to N43.562 million across 68 deals, up from N28.117 million the previous day.
Despite the CBN’s reassurance that the recent drop in external reserves is not worrisome, the market remains unsettled by persistent concerns over liquidity constraints, policy transparency, and weakening confidence in Nigeria’s FX market as gross reserves continue to decline to $48.4 billion.
The outlook for the Dollar appears supported by broader macro risks, including elevated oil prices tied to the tanker traffic disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz and a continued US-Iran standoff over ceasefire negotiations.
A look at the digital currency market showed that investors are sitting on the edge as the US Dollar rebounded amid geopolitical and inflation risks despite continued inflows into US spot bitcoin Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs).
Solana (SOL) rose by 1.2 per cent to sell $86.45, Cardano (ADA) appreciated by 1.1 per cent to $0.2517, Dogecoin (DOGE) grew by 0.9 per cent to $0.0989, Ripple (XRP) improved by 0.3 per cent to $1.43, Ethereum (ETH) soared by 0.2 per cent to $2,316.83, and Binance Coin (BNB) chalked up 0.1 per cent to sell for $637.44.
However, TRON (TRX) depreciated by 1.3 per cent to $0.3235, and Bitcoin (BTC) lost 0.2 per cent to close at $77,562.27, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) closed flat at $1.00 each.
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