Economy

Oil Sheds Over 3% as OPEC, JTC Wade in to Stop Further Drop

Published

5 years ago

04/02/2020

By Adedapo Adesanya

Oil futures recorded more than three percent drop on Monday, February 3 as fears surrounding the coronavirus and its impact on oil demand continue to pull prices further.

Brent crude fell $2.28 or 4.10 percent to $54.32 per barrel on Monday night, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell $1.46 or 2.83 percent to settle at $50.10. Earlier at the session, the WTI posted below $50 to trade at $49.

Markets continue to face drop as a result of the coronavirus, which analysts consider the largest demand shock faced by the oil market since the global financial crisis of 2008 to 2009, and the most sudden since the September 11 attacks.

This continuous dip has forced the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, including Russia, to consider an emergency meeting on February 14-15, one of the OPEC sources said, earlier than a current schedule for a meeting in March that could see further cut on production to stop the decline in prices.

Meanwhile, an OPEC and non-OPEC panel called the Joint Technical Committee (JTC) has scheduled a meeting for February 4 and 5 in Vienna to assess the impact of the virus on demand.

Oil, last month, fell more than $10 a barrel to $56, lower than the level many OPEC countries need to balance their budgets, such as Nigeria with a $57 stipulated price already affected and de-facto leader, Saudi Arabia which has a benchmark of $80 per barrel.

The outbreak could cut China’s oil demand by nothing less than 250,000 barrels per day (bpd) in the first quarter of the year, according to analysts. The country consumes about 14 million barrels a day and with any change in demand, it affects the global energy market.

An OPEC member, Iran, said on Monday that the spread of the virus had hit oil demand and called for the need to stabilise prices. This backs up call made by the Russian Energy Minister, Mr Alexander Novak, last week when he said Russia was ready to bring forward a meeting to February from March to address a possible change to global oil demand from the virus.

OPEC officials had been scheduled to meet in early March with Russia and their other non-OPEC partners to review their production deal, and possibly increase their cut from 1.7 million barrels agreed upon last year to a higher cut.

There are considerations by members that the meeting could lead the alliance to cut their oil output by a further 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) to reach 2.2 million bpd to stifle declines.

There are also reports that discussions were ongoing to consider extending the duration of the cuts set to expire by March to June.

Economy

UBN Property Sinks OTC Bourse by 0.48% at Midweek

Published

48 minutes ago

24/04/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

UBN Property Plc further sank the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange in the red territory by 0.48 per cent on Wednesday, April 23.

The property investment company lost 7 Kobo of its share value to settle at N2.10 per unit compared with the preceding day’s price of N2.17 per unit.

As a result, the market capitalisation of the bourse went down by N9.19 billion to N1.908 trillion from N1.917 trillion and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) slumped by 105.70 points to 3,259.08 points from the previous session’s 3,274.78 points.

There was a 500.5 per cent rise in the volume of securities transacted in the midweek session to 1.05 million units from the 174,634 units traded in the previous trading day.

However, the value of transactions decreased by 9.1 per cent to N2.6 million from N2.86 million and the number of deals dropped by 31.3 per cent to 11 deals from 16 deals.

At the close of business, Impresit Bakolori Plc remained the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 533.9 million units worth N520.9 million, trailed by Okitipupa Plc with 153.6 million units sold for N4.9 billion, and Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with 71.2 million units valued at N24.2 million.

Okitipupa Plc remained the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 153.6 million valued at N4.9 billion, followed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with the sale of 14.8 million units for N572.0 million, and Impresit Bakolori Plc with a turnover of 533.9 million units worth N520.9 million.

Economy

FG to Sell N1.2trn Bonds in Q2 2025

Published

54 minutes ago

24/04/2025

Aduragbemi Omiyale

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

Between April and June 2025, the federal government intends to sell bonds between N900 billion and N1.2 trillion to investors.

This information was revealed by the Debt Management Office (DMO) in its Bond Issuance Calendar for Q2 2025

The sales will take place once in a month, precisely on April 28, May 26, and June 23, according to the data released by the DMO.

It was stated that the debt office will offer the debt instrument in two maturities, with N300 billion and N400 billion offered for sale at each auction.

In April and May, the DMO will reopen the 19.30 per cent FGN APR 2029 and 19.89 per cent FGN MAY 2033 bonds, and in June, it will introduce the FGN JAN 2030 and FGN JAN 2032 and five and seven-year, respectively.

In April, the APR 2029 bond will have a remaining tenor of four years, while the MAY 2033 bond will have six years and one month left.

By May, those terms shorten to three years and eleven months, and six years, respectively. Both bonds retain their original coupon rates of 19.30 per cent and 19.89 per cent.

The DMO has also released details for its April auction. The Federal Government plans to raise N350bn through the reopening of the APR 2029 and MAY 2033 bonds.

According to the circular, N200bn will be offered in the APR 2029 and N150bn in the MAY 2033. The auction will be held on Monday, April 28, with settlement on Wednesday, April 30.

Economy

Naira Loses 35 Kobo Against Dollar at Official Market

Published

2 hours ago

24/04/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira marginally depleted against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Wednesday, April 23.

During the session, it lost 35 Kobo or 0.02 per cent against the greenback to sell for N1,603.51/$1 compared with the previous day’s value of N1,603.16/$1.

Also, in the same official FX market, the value of the local currency depreciated against the Pound Sterling yesterday by N17.31 to quote at N2,137.55/£1 versus Tuesday’s closing price of N2,120.24/£1 and tumbled against the Euro by N19.89 to close at N1,837.58/€1 compared with the preceding session’s N1,817.69/€1.

However, in the parallel market segment, the domestic currency appreciated against the Dollar during the trading day by N5 to trade at N1,605/$1 versus the previous day’s N1,610/$1.

The Nigerian Naira has been under pressure lately after a recent ease in concerns about the country’s FX reserves, which have been been dropping.

A look at the digital currency market showed that it was bearish at midweek due to profit-taking amid declining US Dollar index, which is largely tied to mixed signals out of the world’s largest economy.

Earlier this week, President Donald Trump said he had no intention to fire US Federal Reserve Chair, Mr Jerome Powell, and that a deal with China (which is facing tariffs as high as 245 per cent on some items) would significantly reduce some of its levies.

The mixed signals and frequent tone shift are worrying traders, however, who continue to monitor comments for further cues on positioning, with market analysts noting that trade frictions, geopolitical jitters, and regulatory issues continue to cast long shadows on assets like crypto.

Dogecoin (DOGE) dipped by 4.9 per cent to sell at $0.1730, Ripple (XRP) fell by 3.9 per cent to $2.17, Litecoin (LTC) declined by 2.3 per cent to $82.23, and Binance Coin (BNB) depreciated by 2.2 per cent to $604.59.

In addition, Cardano (ADA) slumped by 1.9 per cent to $0.6837, Solana (SOL) also lost 1.9 per cent to close at $148.13. Bitcoin (BTC) slid by 1.3 per cent to $92,479.80, and Ethereum (ETH) crashed by 1.1 per cent to $1,770.12, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.