Economy
Oil Prices up on Doubts Over US-Iran Talks, as Supply Risks Persist
By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil prices were up on Thursday amid scepticism that forthcoming peace talks between the US and Iran would resolve disruptions to Middle Eastern energy supplies caused by the ongoing war.
Brent crude futures climbed $4.46 or 4.7 per cent to $99.39 per barrel, and the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gained $3.40 or 3.7 per cent to settle at $94.69 a barrel.
The US-Israeli war with Iran stands as the largest-ever disruption of global oil and gas supplies due to Iran’s interruption of traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, which typically carries about 20 per cent of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas flows.
Reuters reported that American and Iranian negotiators have scaled back their expectations for a comprehensive peace deal and are instead seeking a temporary memorandum to prevent a return to conflict.
Iran, which has faced crippling US sanctions for years, wants a memorandum to include unfreezing some Iranian funds in return for allowing more ships through the strait. The US is demanding a halt to Iran’s nuclear enrichment work for 20 years, while Iran wants to limit it to three to five years. It also wants a timetable for lifting the sanctions imposed on the country by the United Nations, the US and the European Union (EU).
US President Donald Trump later said the Middle East nation is very close to a deal with Iran, an assertion he has previously made.
With the US blockade of Iranian ports announced after the collapse of peace talks over the weekend, the disruption could increase, although some US-sanctioned tankers have made it through.
Oil benchmarks barely reacted to his remarks, just as the markets also did not react to his announcement of a 10-day ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon in their related conflict, starting Thursday.
The supply disruptions are straining global oil inventories, particularly for jet fuel in parts of Asia and Africa. For instance, Nigerian airlines threatened to suspend all flight operations from April 20, unless there is an easing of crippling jet fuel prices, which they accused the country’s fuel marketers of artificially inflating.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has downgraded global growth and warns of a potential recession if the Iran war drags on.
By Aduragbemi Omiyale
Emerald Holdco has been authorised by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to proceed with its mandatory takeover offer (MTO) of shares of Beta Glass Plc worth N6.94 billion held by minority investors.
In a notice to the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited, it was disclosed that the MTO involves 11,741,509 ordinary shares of Beta Glass at a unit price of N590.94.
Shareholders of the company are required to fill out the MTO form for the exercise, which opened on Tuesday, July 7, 2026, and is expected to close at 5:00 pm on Tuesday, August 4, 2026.
Business Post reports that Emerald Holdco recently completed the acquisition of 100 per cent of the shares of Emerald Nigeria Intermediate Holdings B.V. (formerly Frigoinvest Nigeria Holding B.V), which owns 76.03 per cent of Packaging Industries Nigeria Limited (formerly Frigoglass Industries (Nigeria) Limited) from the Frigoglass Group.
As part of this transaction, Emerald Holdco has assumed indirect ownership of 331,260,999 ordinary shares in the company, previously held by Frigoglass Group, which represent approximately 55.22 per cent of the issued share capital of the organisation.
In accordance with the Nigerian Takeover Rules, Emerald Holdco is required to make a takeover offer to all other shareholders of Beta Glass. It is permitted to make an offer for all or a portion of the shares held by the other shareholders of the firm.
Following this requirement, Emerald Holdco sought and obtained approval from its board and shareholders to launch a takeover offer to all qualifying shareholders for the acquisition of up to 11,741,509 ordinary shares, representing 1.96 per cent of the total issued and fully paid-up share capital of Beta Glass.
The board and shareholders granted this approval on February 5, 2026, and March 3, 2026, respectively.
By Adedapo Adesanya
A plunge in the share price of FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc purged the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange by 6.11 per cent on Tuesday, July 7.
The milk producer, famed for brands like Peak Milk and Three Crowns, was the sole price loser during the session, shedding N12.41 to end at N139.41 per unit compared with the previous day’s N151.82 per unit.
As a result, the market capitalisation of the alternative stock market went down by N155.40 billion to close at N2.387 trillion, in contrast to Monday’s closing value of N2.543 trillion, and the NASD Security Index (NSI) fell by 258.90 points to close at 3,978.07 points compared with the preceding session’s 4,236.97 points.
Business Post reports that NASD Plc was the only price gainer for the day, gaining 80 Kobo to close at N34.10 per share versus N33.30 per share.
Yesterday, the value of securities surged by 98.3 per cent to N15.9 million from the preceding session’s N2.8 million, the volume of securities increased by 183.6 per cent to 323,780 units from 114.175 million units, and the number of deals grew by 61.1 per cent to 29 deals from 18 deals.
At the close of business, Great Nigeria Insurance (GNI) Plc remained the most traded security 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 worth N6.5 billion, and CSCS Plc with 70.7 million units exchanged for N4.9 billion.
GNI Plc also ended the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis, with 3.4 billion units sold for N8.4 billion, followed by Infracredit Plc with 2.3 billion units transacted for N6.5 billion, and Resourcery Plc with 1.1 billion units traded for N415.7 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira weakened by N7.48 or 0.55 per cent against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Tuesday, July 7, to N1,375.75/$1, in contrast to the previous day’s N1,368.27/$1.
Equally, the local currency fell against the Pound Sterling in the same official FX market yesterday by N14.66 to trade at N1,841.57/£1 versus Monday’s closing price of N1,826.91/£1, and against the Euro, it depreciated by N10.61 to close at N1,573.30/€1 compared with the preceding session’s N1,562.69/€1.
In the parallel market, the Nigerian currency lost N5 against the US Dollar during the trading day to settle at N1,395/$1 compared with the previous day’s N1,390/$1, and at the GTBank forex desk, it remained unchanged at N1,831/$1.
Liquidity fluctuations amidst sustained FX inflows from foreign portfolio investors, exporters, non-bank corporates and other sources weakened the Naira despite rising external reserves. Updated data showed that gross external reserves increased to $ 51.525 billion from $51.549 billion.
Daily interbank FX turnover stood at $54.180 million across 70 deals, from $70.430 million.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) signalled its intention in the first half of the year to slow the Naira rally and avoid capital flight by purchasing US Dollars from the market.
As for the cryptocurrency market, benchmarked tokens dipped following renewed strikes on Iran by the US after an attack on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz. The US Central Command forces said it began launching a series of powerful strikes against Iran to impose high costs for targeting and attacking commercial shipping crewed by innocent civilians in an international waterway.
The latest exchange of fire will test the fragile ceasefire as Iran struck back by targeting US bases in Bahrain and Kuwait. The renewed attacks in the Middle East have doused the flames of the recent rally, with markets losing $50 billion over the past 12 hours.
Cardano (ADA) fell by 5.8 per cent to $0.1695, Solana (SOL) dropped 3.4 per cent to sell at $78.24, Ripple (XRP) depreciated by 3.3 per cent to $1.08, Dogecoin (DOGE) declined by 3.2 per cent to $0.0724, and Binance Coin (BNB) slid by 1.9 per cent to $567.58.
Further, Ethereum (ETH) went down by 1.1 per cent to $1,751.40, Bitcoin (BTC) lost 0.8 per cent to quote at $62,538.88, and TRON (TRX) decreased by 0.4 per cent to $0.3289, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.
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