Economy

Oil Trades Higher on Renewed Supply Concerns

Published

3 years ago

06/11/2021

By Adedapo Adesanya

Oil prices traded higher on Friday as renewed supply concerns after producers rejected calls to accelerate output increases even as demand nears pre-pandemic levels.

Brent crude rose to $82.74 per barrel after it grew by $2.2 or 2.73 per cent, while the United States West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude appreciated by $2.46 or 3.12 per cent to settle at $81.27 per barrel.

Prices fell on Thursday after the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies (OPEC+) said at the end of its meeting that it would raise the monthly overall production by 400,000 barrels a day in December.

This came at a time when pressure was mounting for more OPEC+ output, while Saudi Arabia was reported to soon exceed the 10 million barrels per day threshold of oil production.

But as the group pushed back against pressure from the administration of Mr Joe Biden of the United States to pump more oil, prices returned to their bullishness.

The global benchmark, Brent was down 1.2 per cent this week while WTI prices lost nearly 2.8 per cent, for a second weekly loss in a row, following a nine-week streak of gains.

Market analysts noted that OPEC+ is carefully trying to protect the market balance amid the downside risks to demand but noted that it will not be a surprise if the cartel at its next December meeting decides to reengineer its current output cut tapering plan.

This could be done to allow for higher target productions for the countries with spare capacities, such as Saudi Arabia, UAE and Russia, to compensate for expected underperformance from some regions such as West Africa, particularly Nigeria.

The US said it would consider all tools at its disposal to guarantee affordable energy, including the possibility of releasing oil from strategic petroleum reserves (SPR).

But according to the investment bank, Goldman Sachs, if the US tapped its emergency oil supplies, such a move would only be modest and temporary help and could in fact backfire given the structural nature of the oil market deficits starting in 2023.

However, the market also gained support from data showing US employment rose more than expected in October.

The country’s Labour Department’s closely watched employment report’s survey of establishments on Friday showed nonfarm payrolls increased by 531,000 jobs last month. Data for September was revised higher to show 312,000 jobs created instead of the previously reported 194,000.

Employment is 4.2 million jobs below its peak in February 2020. Job growth has averaged 582,000 per month this year.

Data showed the number of active US oil-drilling rigs climbed by six to 450 this week– the biggest increase since the week ended Oct. 15 — implying a future uptick in production.

Economy

Linkage Assurance, Oando, Others Lift Nigerian Exchange by 0.10%

Published

1 day ago

22/03/2025

Dipo Olowookere

By Dipo Olowookere

The Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited returned to green territory on Friday, closing higher by 0.10 per cent after investor sentiment turned bullish.

Business Post reports that the market breadth index was positive yesterday after the bourse ended with 29 appreciating equities and 21 depreciating equities.

Linkage Assurance gained 10.00 per cent to trade at N1.43, Livestock Feeds appreciated by 9.93 per cent to N8.41, Mutual Benefits jumped by 9.84 per cent to 67 Kobo, UBA soared by 5.75 per cent to N36.80, and Oando grew by 5.59 per cent to N51.00.

Conversely, Red Star Express lost 9.91 per cent to finish at N4.82, Learn Africa depreciated by 9.85 per cent to N3.02, FTN Cocoa declined by 9.43 per cent to N4.80, Coronation Insurance slumped by 9.39 per cent to N2.22, and Ikeja Hotel slipped by 9.35 per cent to N9.70.

Customs Street grew yesterday as a result of buying interest in banking equities, which dominated the activity chart, according to data from the bourse.

Fidelity Bank transacted 62.3 million shares for N1.1 billion, Access Holdings traded 38.3 million equities worth N843.7 million, Tantalizers sold 32.0 million stocks valued at N99.2 million, Veritas Kapital exchanged 31.4 million shares worth N38.4 million, and Zenith Bank traded 22.7 million equities valued at N1.1 billion.

At the close of trades, a total of 397.2 million stocks worth N14.2 billion exchanged hands in 10,099 deals compared with the 310.5 million stocks valued at N6.3 billion traded in 10,182 deals a day earlier, indicating a decline in the number of deals by 0.82 per cent, and the growth in the trading volume and value by 27.92 per cent and 125.40 per cent, respectively.

The industrial goods and commodity sectors remained unchanged during the session, the insurance and consumer goods indices tumbled by 0.49 per cent and 0.02 per cent apiece, while the energy and banking counters went up by 0.50 per cent and 0.12 per cent, respectively.

The bargain-hunting activities of the market participants lifted the All-Share Index (ASI) on Friday by 104.19 points to 104,962.96 points from 104,858.77 points and the market capitalisation increased by N66 billion to N65.820 trillion from N65.754 trillion.

Economy

Nigerian OTC Securities Exchange Falls 0.44%

Published

1 day ago

22/03/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The last trading session this week at the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange ended on a negative note with a 0.44 per cent decline on Friday, March 21.

The market capitalisation of the OTC securities exchange went down by N8.67 billion to N1.939 trillion from N1.948 trillion and the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) ended the session at 3,358.61 points after dropping 15.01 points from the preceding day’s 3,373.62 points.

Trading data showed an increase of 50.7 per cent in the volume of securities transacted to 304,188 units from the 201,873 units transacted in the previous trading day, the value of transactions surged by 1,214.8 per cent to N10.2 million from N776,509.51, and the number of deals rose by 88.2 per cent to 32 deals from 17 deals.

Yesterday, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc lost N1.84 to trade at N37.17 per share versus Thursday’s closing price of N39.01 per share, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc depreciated by N1.01 to sell at N22.84 per unit compared with the preceding day’s N213.85 per unit, and Afriland Properties Plc declined by 2 Kobo to close the day at N19.50 per share versus the previous session’s N19.52 per share.

At the close of trading activities, Impresit Bakolori Plc was the most active stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 533.9 million units worth N520.9 million, followed by Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc with a turnover of 69.9 million units valued at N23.7 million, and Geo Fluids Plc with 44.1 million units sold for N88.9 million.

Similarly, Impresit Bakolori Plc was the most active stock by value on a year-to-date basis with a turnover of 533.9 million units worth N520.9 million, trailed by FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with the sale of 13.2 million units valued at N511.8 million, and Afriland Properties Plc with 17.6 million units sold for N360.1 million.

Economy

Naira Sinks Further to N1,537.05/$1 at Official FX Market

Published

1 day ago

22/03/2025

Adedapo Adesanya

By Adedapo Adesanya

The value of the Naira depreciated against the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) on Friday, March 21 by N2.72 or 0.18 per cent to settle at N1,537.05/$1 compared with the preceding day’s N1,534.33/1$.

In the same official FX market, the exchange rate of the Nigerian Naira and the Pound Sterling and the Euro remained unchanged at N1,972.89/£1 and N1,657.81/€1, respectively.

At the parallel market segment, the local currency tumbled against the Dollar during the trading session by N5 to trade at N1,590/$1 versus Thursday’s closing price of N1,585/$1.

The pressure on the market continued as the Dollar strengthened in the international market, making currencies like the Naira weaker.

The continuous downward trend of the Naira has raised concerns about the effectiveness of recent injections into the market even as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) channeled more than $55 million into the banks during the week.

In the cryptocurrency market, most tokens as prices inversed with the wider financial markets, which are down on tariff worries and decreased corporate earnings.

On the regulatory front, the US government is moving towards a market structure bill that has been touted as historic.

Solana (SOL) appreciated by 1.2 per cent to sell at $129.31, Dogecoin (DOGE) rose by 0.9 per cent to $0.1692, Ethereum (ETH) went up by 0.9 per cent to $1,988.34, and Ripple (XRP) added 0.8 per cent to close at $2.40.

Further, Bitcoin (BTC) expanded by 0.6 per cent to $84,293.76, Binance Coin (BNB) increased by 0.4 per cent to $631.94, and Cardano jumped by 0.3 per cent to end at $0.7134.

On the flip side, Litecoin (LTC) went down by 1.8 per cent to $91.25, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.