Economy
Oil Rebounds Amid Omicron Threats
By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil prices returned to the bullish territory on Monday after a heavy price crash last Friday amid fears over the threat to demand triggered by the new Omicron COVID-19 variant.
The international benchmark, Brent crude futures, gained $1.02 or 1.39 per cent to trade at $74.46 per barrel, while the United States’ benchmark, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude, gained 89 cents or 1.27 per cent to sell at $70.84 per barrel.
Last week, the market panicked over Omicron, the new heavily mutated coronavirus variant detected in South Africa, dropping more than 10 per cent over fears sparked by what the global health authority – the World Health Organisation (WHO) classified as a “variant of concern.”
However, Monday breathed a fresh air of relief as traders, investors, and speculators awaited scientific evidence of whether Omicron should be as feared as the oil market appeared to fear at the preceding session.
WHO declared on Sunday that it was not clear yet if Omicron was more transmissible or if infection with Omicron causes more severe disease compared to infections with other variants, including Delta.
The market also found support when the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies (OPEC+) said there was no panic about the new variant.
Russia and Saudi Arabia, who lead the coalition, signalled there was no need for OPEC+ to race to adjust oil output policy this week.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak was quoted as saying that he sees no need for urgent action on the oil market over Omicron, downplaying the possibility of changes to an OPEC+ oil supply deal this week.
“There is no need for hasty decisions,” he was quoted as saying, adding “We will additionally discuss with the OPEC+ countries the market situation and if any measures are warranted,” Mr Novak said.
On his part, the Saudi energy minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman al-Saud said he was not worried about the Omicron, but declined to comment on OPEC+ plans.
OPEC+ will hold online meetings this week to decide on oil production policy.
The group has been reducing its curbs on output by 400,000 barrels per day of oil per month as it winds down record cuts from last year when it cut production by as much as 10 million bpd to address lower demand caused by lockdowns.
OPEC+ has some 3.8 million barrels per day of cuts still in place and some analysts have suggested the group could pause its output increases.
President Joe Biden urged Americans not to panic about the new COVID-19 variant and said the United States was working with pharmaceutical companies to make contingency plans if new vaccines were needed.
Meanwhile, the Biden administration’s release of Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPR) has proven to have little impact on the underlying price of oil, following the initial price reaction in oil last week after the government flooded the market with 50 million barrels.
On the back of this, investment bank, JPMorgan thinks Brent will hit $120 per barrel in 2022, and could even overshoot to $150 per barrel in 2023, representing a potential upside of as much as 100 per cent from current levels.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited is seeking review of the controversial Capital Gains Tax increase, fearing it will chase away foreign investors from the country’s capital market.
Nigeria’s new tax regime, which takes effect from January 1, 2026, represents one of the most significant changes to Nigeria’s tax system in recent years.
Under the new rules, the flat 10 per cent Capital Gains Tax rate has been replaced by progressive income tax rates ranging from zero to 30 per cent, depending on an investor’s overall income or profit level while large corporate investors will see the top rate reduced to 25 per cent as part of a wider corporate tax reform.
The chief executive of NGX, Mr Jude Chiemeka, said in a Bloomberg interview in Kigali, Rwanda that there should be a “removal of the capital gains tax completely, or perhaps deferring it for five years.”
According to him, Nigeria, having a higher Capital Gains Tax, will make investors redirect asset allocation to frontier markets and “countries that have less tax.”
“From a capital flow perspective, we should be concerned because all these international portfolio managers that invest across frontier markets will certainly go to where the cost of investing is not so burdensome,” the CEO said, as per Bloomberg. “That is really the angle one will look at it from.”
Meanwhile, the policy has been defended by the chairman of the Presidential Fiscal Policy and Tax Reforms Committee, Mr Taiwo Oyedele, who noted that the new tax will make investing in the capital market more attractive by reducing risks, promoting fairness, and simplifying compliance.
He noted that the framework allows investors to deduct legitimate costs such as brokerage fees, regulatory charges, realised capital losses, margin interest, and foreign exchange losses directly tied to investments, thereby ensuring that they are not taxed when operating at a loss.
Mr Oyedele also said the reforms introduced a more inclusive approach to taxation by exempting several categories of investors and transactions.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Food Concepts Plc neutralized the gains recorded by three securities, returning the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange into the negative territory with a 0.27 per cent loss on Thursday, December 4.
Yesterday, the share price of the parent company of Chicken Republic and PieXpress declined by 34 Kobo to sell at N3.15 per unit compared with the previous day’s N3.49 per unit.
This shrank the market capitalisation of the OTC bourse by N5.72 billion to N2.136 billion from N2.142 trillion and weakened the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) by 9.57 points to 3,571.53 points from 3,581.10 points.
Business Post reports that Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc went down by 50 Kobo to N38.50 per share from N38.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc gained 29 Kobo to sell at N55.79 per unit versus N55.50 per unit, and Geo-Fluids Plc added 5 Kobo to close at N4.60 per share compared with Wednesday’s closing price of N4.55 per share.
Trading data indicated that the volume of securities recorded at the session surged by 6,885.3 per cent to 4.3 million units from the 61,570 units posted a day earlier, the value of securities increased by 10,301.7 per cent to N947.2 million from N3.3 million, and the number of deals went up by 146.7 per cent to 37 deals from the 15 deals achieved in the previous trading session.
At the close of business, Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit) Plc was the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with the sale of 5.8 billion units for N16.4 billion, trailed by Okitipupa Plc with 170.4 million units worth N8.0 billion, and Air Liquide Plc with 507.5 million units valued at N4.2 billion.
InfraCredit Plc also finished the session as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 5.8 billion units transacted for N16.4 billion, followed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 1.2 billion units sold for N420.2 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with 536.9 million units traded for N524.9 million.
By Dipo Olowookere
The upward trend witnessed at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited in recent sessions continued on Thursday as it further improved by 0.10 per cent.
This was despite investor sentiment turning bearish after the local equity market ended with 23 price gainers and 28 price gainers, indicating a negative market breadth index.
UAC Nigeria gained 10.00 per cent to finish at N88.00, Morison Industries appreciated by 9.94 per cent to N3.54, Ecobank rose by 8.53 per cent to N36.90, and Coronation Insurance grew by 8.47 per cent to N2.56.
On the flip side, Ellah Lakes depreciated by 10.00 per cent to N13.14, Eunisell Nigeria also shed 10.00 per cent to finish at N72.90, Transcorp Hotels slipped by 9.95 per cent to N157.50, Omatek shrank by 9.23 per cent to N1.18, and Guinea Insurance dipped by 8.46 per cent to N1.19.
Yesterday, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 152.28 points to 145,476.15 points from 145,323.87 points and the market capitalisation chalked up N97 billion to finish at N92.726 trillion compared with the previous day’s N92.629 trillion.
Customs Street was bubbling with activities on Thursday, though the trading volume and value slightly went down, according to data.
A total of 1.9 billion stocks worth N19.2 billion exchanged hands in 23,369 deals during the session versus the N2.3 billion valued at N21.0 billion traded in 21,513 deals a day earlier.
This showed that the number of deals increased by 8.63 per cent, the volume of transactions depleted by 17.39 per cent, and the value of trades decreased by 8.57 per cent.
For another trading day, eTranzact led the activity chart with 1.6 billion units sold for N6.4 billion, Fidelity Bank traded 31.0 million units worth N589.3 million, GTCO exchanged 28.3 million units valued at N2.5 billion, Zenith Bank transacted 27.1 million units for N1.6 billion, and Ecobank traded 21.9 million units worth N744.3 million.
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