By Adedapo Adesanya

The Naira opened the week marginally down against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) by 12 Kobo or 0.01 per cent on Monday, July 27, to trade at N1,362.21/$1, in contrast to the preceding session’s N1,362.09/$1.

This occurred amid a sharp decline in interbank FX turnover during the trading session, with deals among financial institutions also reducing strongly. The FX turnover for the day stood at $39.587 million, approximately 56 per cent lower than the $89.082 million recorded last Friday.

In the same official market, the Nigerian Naira lost 43 Kobo against the Pound Sterling yesterday to quote at N1,814.05/£1 compared with the previous session’s rate of N1,813.62/£1, and against the Euro, it slid by N1.09 to close at N1,550.19/€1 versus the preceding session’s N1,549.10/€1.

However, the local currency appreciated against the greenback by N7 at the GTBank forex desk on Monday to sell for N1,372/$1 versus N1,379/$1, and at the parallel market, it maintained stability at N1,400/$1.

The Naira has been able to remain firm despite a very strong US Dollar, largely due to market liquidity on the back of a $52 billion foreign reserves buffer, which makes it easier for banks, traders, and businesses to trade at the FX market without triggering volatility with their demands.

The Dangote Refinery also resumed selling petrol in Naira, a decision it said was driven by the need to stabilise the market, amid claims that fuel importers were withholding supplies in anticipation of higher prices. This has lifted pressure that may come due to foreign-currency buying from fuel importers.

In the cryptocurrency market, most tokens fell, as the US Senate delayed action on the closely watched CLARITY Act to focus on a Russia sanctions bill, likely pushing any vote on crypto regulatory legislation to next week before the August 8 recess.

Analysts say Bitcoin (BTC) and other coins tend to move with stocks when macro and interest-rate stress is high, and they expect volatility across asset classes around the Federal Reserve’s rate decision Wednesday and key US data on Thursday.

Cardano (ADA) dropped 6.0 per cent to finish at $0.1556, Ripple (XRP) depreciated by 4.4 per cent to $1.05, Solana (SOL) fell by 4.0 per cent to $73.27, Ethereum (ETH) slid by 3.9 per cent to $1,884.11, Dogecoin (DOGE) depleted by 3.8 per cent to $0.0699, BTC crashed by 3.0 per cent to $63,420.37, TRON (TRX) retreated by 2.3 per cent to $0.3241, and Binance Coin (BNB) slumped by 1.6 per cent to $565.57, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) sold flat at $1.00 apiece.

By Dipo Olowookere

Sell-offs in mid- and large-cap stocks crashed the local bourse by 0.05 per cent on Monday, with almost all the major sectors closing lower.

The insurance counter depreciated by 1.69 per cent, the consumer goods space lost 1.07 per cent, the energy segment shed 0.14 per cent, and the industrial goods index contracted by 0.06 per cent. But the banking sector gained 0.78 per cent, which was not enough to offset the losses printed by the others.

As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) moderated by 118.66 points to 247,238.74 points from 247,357.40 points, and the market capitalisation receded by N77 billion to N159.511 trillion from N159.588 trillion.

Investor sentiment was weak yesterday after the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited ended with 27 advancing equities and 32 declining equities, implying a negative market breadth index.

Transcorp Power collapsed by 10.00 per cent to N219.60, SUNU Assurances also fell by 10.00 per cent to N3.24, International Breweries slipped by 9.85 per cent to N12.35, Neimeth depreciated by 9.78 per cent to N8.30, and Austin Laz lost 9.64 per cent to trade at N3.28.

Conversely, Thomas Wyatt appreciated by 9.92 per cent to N3.99, Lasaco Assurance gained 9.89 per cent to quote at N2.00, CMFC surged by 9.18 per cent to N3.45, Chams jumped by 7.78 per cent to N4.85, and NGX Group flew higher by 6.96 per cent to N158.30.

The level of activity increased during the session, as market participants bought and sold 638.0 million shares for N57.2 billion in 71,240 deals versus the 565.5 million shares worth N29.9 billion transacted in 53,688 deals last Friday, indicating a rise in the trading volume, value, and number of deals by 12.82 per cent, 91.30 per cent, and 32.69 per cent, respectively.

Access Holdings led the activity chart yesterday after trading 47.6 million stocks valued at N1.4 billion, FCMB exchanged 40.3 million equities for N478.3 million, First Holdco sold 34.2 million shares valued at N4.3 billion, Champion Breweries transacted 33.2 million stocks worth N372.2 million, and Zenith Bank traded 25.4 million equities valued at N3.2 billion.

By Adedapo Adesanya

The major crude oil grades fell more than 7 per cent on Monday, settling at their lowest levels in over a week, after the United States abruptly suspended a ‌campaign of air strikes against Iran.

Brent crude futures declined by $8.42 or 8.7 per cent to settle at $88.36 a barrel, while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures shrank by $6.70 or 7.5 per cent to close at $82.61 per barrel.

Brent futures last week surpassed $100 a barrel as the conflict, which has reduced oil shipments via the Strait of Hormuz, spilt over to the ​Red Sea. This hindered exports from the world’s top exporter, Saudi Arabia, via the Bab el-Mandeb strait to Asia.

However, Iran said it had halted retaliatory attacks against American allies in the Middle East as the US refrained from attacking Iran for the second night in a row.

The overnight lull in attacks came ahead of a key meeting scheduled in Washington between President Donald Trump and Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu.

The visit is scheduled for Tuesday, exactly five months since US and Israeli forces launched a wide campaign of air strikes on Iranian targets.

Iran has pushed back, attacking US allies in the Middle East and essentially closing the Strait of Hormuz, the chokepoint waterway through which a massive amount of oil and gas normally passes en route to global markets.

President Trump on Monday said the US is holding “good talks” with Iran, and that “there’s a good chance that something could happen” ​in regard to a potential deal. He also threatened “strong military action” if diplomacy fails.

Saudi Arabia’s air defences intercepted and destroyed drones launched from Iraq as Yemen’s Houthis claimed they had targeted sensitive crude oil supply and transport sites linking eastern Saudi Arabia to the critical Red Sea oil export hub ​of Yanbu.

Shipping data from Kpler showed that fewer than 10 commodity vessels passed through the Strait of Hormuz daily during the weekend.

Also, ship traffic through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait fell on Sunday after Yemeni Houthis attacked Saudi oil installations along the Red Sea coast, although a third Chinese supertanker exited via the waterway.

Kazakhstan, among the world’s 10 biggest ⁠oil producers, ​has more than halved its daily oil output following the closure of the main exporting ​terminal in Russia’s Black Sea over drone attacks.