Economy
Prices of Brent, WTI Drop as OPEC+ Mulls Faster Output Increases
By Adedapo Adesanya
Oil prices slipped by 2 per cent on Wednesday as the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) mulled accelerating its oil output increases in June.
Brent crude was down by $1.32 or 1.96 per cent to $66.12 a barrel while the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude depreciated by $1.40 or 2.2 per cent to $62.27 per barrel.
Reuters reported that several OPEC+ members will suggest more oil output hikes in June for a second consecutive month as disputes between members over compliance with production quotas worsen.
It was reported that some wanted to increase output by a similar volume to the May increase ahead of a May 5 meeting where eight OPEC+ countries will meet to decide the June output plan.
The May and potential June hikes are part of a plan by Russia, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Iraq, Algeria, Kazakhstan and Oman to gradually unwind their most recent output cut of 2.2 million barrels per day.
OPEC+ also has 3.65 million barrels per day of other output cuts in place until the end of next year to support the market.
There was ease in the market following a report that US President Donald Trump may cut tariffs on Chinese imports.
There is now a possibility that the China tariffs are likely to come down to between 50 per cent and 65 per cent.
This came as US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he believes that excessively high tariffs between the US and China will have to come down before trade negotiations can proceed.
Also, President Trump has backed away from the threat of firing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell after days of criticising the US central bank for not cutting interest rates, easing investor fears about economic uncertainty.
Crude oil inventories in the US saw an increase of 200,000 barrels during the week ending April 18, according to new data from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) released on Wednesday.
However, both gasoline (petrol) and distillate inventories fell more than expected.
On Tuesday, the American Petroleum Institute (API) reported a different story, showing a large draw of 4.565 million barrels in US crude oil inventories with large draws in gasoline and distillate stocks.
The US had also issued new sanctions targeting an Iranian shipping magnate whose network handles Iranian liquefied petroleum gas and crude oil worth hundreds of millions of Dollars.
By Dipo Olowookere
The upward trend at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited was disrupted by profit-taking in MTN Nigeria, BUA Cement, Lafarge Africa, Abbey Mortgage Bank and 25 others on Friday.
Business Post reports that the local bourse closed lower by 0.56 per cent yesterday, the first loss recorded in 27 straight trading sessions, with the last on July 1, 2025.
It was observed that the decline happened despite Customs Street recorded 42 price gainers and 29 price losers, indicating a positive market breadth index and strong investor sentiment.
Abbey Mortgage Bank topped the losers’ log yesterday after it depreciated by 9.87 per cent to N6.30, Custodian Investment tumbled by 8.48 per cent to N40.45, Deap Capital slipped by 7.53 per cent to N1.35, The Initiates lost 7.34 per cent to close at N12.00, and NPF Microfinance Bank declined by 7.25 per cent to N3.20.
On the flip side, the trio of Champion Breweries, Union Dicon and Universal Insurance gained 10.00 per cent each to trade at N14.41, N9.90, and N1.10 apiece, as Guinness Nigeria and AXA Mansard increased their share prices by 9.99 per cent each to finish at N155.75, and N14.64, respectively.
The industrial goods and consumer goods sectors were down by 1.54 per cent and 0.02 per cent apiece on Friday, as the commodity index closed flat.
However, the insurance space continued its positive momentum after it closed higher by 16.11 per cent, the energy counter grew by 0.38 per cent, and the banking industry expanded by 0.19 per cent.
When the closing gong was struck to signal an end to trading activities for the session, the All-Share Index (ASI) moderated by 815.80 points to 145,754.91 points from 146,570.71 points and the market capitalisation contracted by N516 billion to N92.215 trillion from N92.731 trillion.
On Friday, the market participants transacted 2.2 billion stocks valued at N32.4 billion in 35,036 deals versus the 2.0 billion stocks worth N27.3 billion traded in 35,291 deals a day earlier, representing an uptick in the trading volume and value by 10.00 per cent and 18.68 per cent apiece, and a reduction in the number of deals by 0.72 per cent.
Insurance equities dominated the activity table yesterday, with Linkage Assurance selling 585.6 million units for N1.2 billion, and Universal Insurance trading 213.2 million units worth N234.5 million.
Further, AIICO Insurance exchanged 178.5 million units valued at N618.1 million, Mutual Benefits transacted 137.8 million units worth N402.5 million, and Sterling Holdings traded 115.3 million units valued at N927.4 million.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange completed an entire week without a single gain after it lost 0.14 per cent on Friday, August 8. It was the fifth-straight session the platform ended in red territory this week.
The poor performance weakened the market capitalisation by N3.04 billion to N2.140 trillion from the N2.143 trillion it quoted at the preceding session, as the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) decreased by 5.19 points to 3,655.10 points from 3,660.29 points.
Investors’ appetite waned further as there was a 69.2 per cent slide in the volume of securities to 485,742 units at the session from the 1.6 million units posted in the preceding session just as the value of securities declined by 57.8 per cent to N23.2 million from N54.9 million, and the number of deals went down by 57.5 per cent to 17 deals from 40 deals.
Okitipupa Plc closed the session as the most traded stock by value on a year-to-date basis with 154.4 million units transacted for N5.0 billion, followed by Air Liquide Plc with 507.2 million units worth N4.2 billion, and FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc with 43.7 million units valued at N1.9 billion.
Also, Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) maintained its position as the most traded stock by volume on a year-to-date basis with 1.1 billion units worth N362.1 million, trailed by Impresit Bakolori Plc with 536.9 million units sold for N524.8 million, and Air Liquide Plc with 507.2 million units traded for N4.2 billion.
The bourse ended the trading session with two price gainers and two price losers led by Okitipupa Plc, which lost N2.76 to close at N237.24 per share compared with the previous day’s N240.00 per share, and Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc, which fell by 50 Kobo to settle at N53.50 per unit versus Thursday’s closing price of N54.00 per unit.
For their gainers, IGI Plc chalked up 4 Kobo to end at 43 Kobo per share versus 39 Kobo per share, and Food Concepts Plc garnered 1 Kobo to finish at N3.22 per unit versus N3.21 per unit.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira closed 5 Kobo or 0.01 per cent stronger than the US Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEM) segment on Friday, August 8, trading at N1,534.29/$1 compared with the N1,534.34/$1 it was priced on Thursday.
However, it depreciated against the Pound Sterling in the official market during the session by N1.31 to settle at N2,060.34/£1 compared with the preceding session’s N2,059.03/£1 and lost 96 Kobo against the Euro to quote at N1,786.60/€1 versus Thursday’s closing price of N1,787.56/€1.
At the parallel market, the Nigerian Naira gained N5 against the Dollar yesterday to sell for N1,560/$1 compared with the N1,565/$1 it was traded a day earlier.
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has stepped up effort to ensure transparency as the apex bank officially concluded the forensic audit into undelivered forward FX transactions and refunded the value of all unfulfilled and unvalidated deals to banks in Naira.
The CBN also announced plans to pursue civil, administrative, or criminal sanctions against parties found to have breached FX rules, following the conclusion of the forensic audit, noting that the findings revealed extensive irregularities, including mismatches in beneficiary identities, exaggerated FX requests, use of incorrect or blank Form M submissions, and approvals for non-permissible imports.
The banked noted that certain transactions were based on vague or false documentation, while others involved companies that lacked authorisation for the items they sought to import.
In the cryptocurrency market, there were largely positive movements as the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) clarification around liquid staking continued to lift asset prices.
Ethereum (ETH) rose by 6.2 per cent to $4,164.59, Dogecoin (DOGE) jumped by 5.5 per cent to $0.2356, Solana (SOL) appreciated by 2.9 per cent to $180.56, Litecoin (LTC) grew by 2.8 per cent to $125.20, Binance Coin (BNB) soared by 2.1 per cent to $806.62, and Cardano (ADA) surged by 1.2 per cent to $0.8060.
On the flip side, euphoria from recent wins in the court case of Ripple (XRP) waned as it dropped 0.7 per cent to sell at $3.31, and Bitcoin (BTC) moderated by 0.1 per cent to $116,900.81, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) remained unchanged at $1.00 each.
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