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.

By Dipo Olowookere

Strong investor sentiment persisted at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Wednesday after the market breadth finished positive with 34 appreciating stocks and 17 depreciating stocks.

Customs Street closed higher by 0.54 per cent during the trading session after ABC Transport led the gainers’ chart with a 9.86 per cent rise to settle at N1.56.

Further, VFD Group improved its value by 9.62 per cent to N17.10, Learn Africa expanded by 9.54 per cent to N3.56, Regency Alliance soared by 9.43 per cent to 58 Kobo, and Africa Prudential rose by 8.63 per cent to N15.10.

On the flip side, Tripple G depreciated by 10.00 per cent to N1.98, MRS Oil went down by 9.95 per cent to N157.50, Abbey Mortgage Bank lost 9.95 per cent to trade at N8.79, John Holt declined by 9.68 per cent to N7.00, and Austin Laz shed 9.57 per cent to sell for N1.89.

Yesterday, investors traded 744.8 million equities worth N18.3 billion in 11,226 deals compared with the 353.3 million equities valued at N7.2 billion sold in 13,734 deals on Tuesday, indicating a decline in the number of deals by 18.26 per cent and a jump in the trading volume and value by 110.81 per cent and 154.17 per cent, respectively.

Fidelity Bank led the activity log with 388.8 million shares sold for N7.8 billion, GTCO exchanged 47.0 million stocks valued at N2.9 billion, Universal Insurance transacted 41.9 million equities worth N21.0 million, Access Holdings traded 30.6 million shares valued at N705.6 million, and Tantalizers exchanged 23.0 million equities worth N52.8 million.

Business Post reports that the banking and the consumer goods indices gained 2.93 per cent and 1.25 per cent apiece, the insurance and the energy sectors fell by 0.81 per cent and 0.09 per cent, respectively, and the industrial goods and commodity industries closed flat each.

The All-Share Index (ASI) increased by 538.69 points at midweek to 105,283.67 points from 104,744.98 points and the market capitalisation grew by N338 billion to N66.159 trillion from N65.821 trillion.

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.