By Adedapo Adesanya

Oil prices jumped about 6 per cent on Monday as Iran stepped up attacks on the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and ships in the Middle East ‌over the past 24 hours, the most serious escalation since a US-Iran ceasefire came into force in early April.

This pushed the price of Brent futures higher by $6.27 or 5.8 per cent to $114.44 per barrel, and raised the US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude by $4.48 or 4.4 per cent to $106.42 a barrel.

Iran hit several ships in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday and set a UAE oil port ablaze, as President Donald Trump’s attempt to use the US Navy to free up shipping provoked the war’s biggest escalation since a ceasefire was declared last month.

The UAE said its air defences were engaging missile and drone threats on ⁠Monday evening as firefighters battled a blaze at a major oil industry zone.

The US military said it destroyed six Iranian small boats and intercepted Iranian cruise missiles and drones fired by Iran as it sought to thwart a new US naval effort to open shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. About 20 per cent of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies passed through the strait before the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on February 28.

Meanwhile, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Navy (IGRC) issued a map that it said was expanding the areas controlled by Iran near the Strait of Hormuz.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said it received a report of an incident involving ⁠a cargo vessel about 36 nautical miles north of Dubai. The UKMTO also reported a separate incident earlier in the day near the UAE.

Oil executives from the Gulf and ⁠global oil traders have said that even when shipping through the Strait of Hormuz reopens, it will take several weeks, if not months, for flows to normalise.

Separately, the energy minister in the UAE, which left the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) last week, said the country owes it to its investment partners to produce what global oil markets require ⁠without restrictions, while cooperating with other crude producers.

OPEC and its allies, known as OPEC+, said they would raise oil output targets by 188,000 barrels per day in June for seven members, marking the third consecutive monthly increase.

The seven members who met on Sunday were Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, Algeria, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Oman. With the UAE leaving, OPEC+ includes 21 members, including Iran. However, in recent years, only the seven nations plus the UAE have been involved in monthly production decisions.

By Dipo Olowookere

The first trading session of this week on Customs Street ended on a positive note, with a 0.36 per cent leap on Monday buoyed by buying pressure in some stocks.

Business Post reports that 50 equities ended on the gainers’ chart yesterday, offsetting the selling pressure on 30 other equities, indicating a positive market breadth index and strong investor sentiment.

Market participants are gradually getting accustomed to the extended trading window introduced last Monday, which stretched the closing hour to 4 pm from 2:30 pm.

The duo of FTN Cocoa and Consolidated Hallmark gained 10.00 per cent each to quote at N6.05 and N5.72 apiece, as CAP grew by 9.99 per cent to N159.70, Dangote Sugar increased by 9.97 per cent to N76.65, and RT Briscoe surged by 9.96 per cent to N11.70.

On the flip side, International Energy Insurance declined by 9.82 per cent to N2.48, UPDC shrank by 9.18 per cent to N4.45, Learn Africa moderated by 8.06 per cent to N8.55, NEM Insurance retreated by 8.02 per cent to N28.10, and Guinea Insurance tumbled by 7.83 per cent to N1.06.

Yesterday, the insurance index was up by 1.25 per cent, the industrial goods space expanded by 1.08 per cent, the consumer goods industry improved by 0.83 per cent, and the banking sector jumped by 0.41 per cent, while the energy counter contracted by 0.89 per cent.

At the close of business, the All-Share Index (ASI) of the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited went up by 883.71 points to 243,161.52 points from 242,277.81 points, and the market capitalisation soared by N64 billion to N156.058 trillion from N155.994 trillion.

A total of 967.5 million shares worth N43.8 billion were traded by investors in 122,041 deals during the session compared with the 1.9 billion shares valued at N104.3 billion in 92,353 deals last Friday.

This indicated a leap in the number of deals by 32.15 per cent, and a drop in the trading volume and value by 49.08 per cent and 58.01 per cent, respectively.

Closing the day on top of the activity chart was Access Holdings with 182.7 million units sold for N4.7 billion, AIICO Insurance transacted 58.1 million units worth N264.2 million, Fidelity Bank exchanged 57.5 million units valued at N1.1 billion, Zenith Bank traded 48.9 million units worth N6.4 billion, and Chams sold 45.9 million units valued at N149.4 million.

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

The Stanbic IBTC Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for April 2026 stood at 52.4 points compared with the 51.9 points recorded in March 2026, a statement from the lender on Monday revealed.

Though the Nigerian private sector remained in growth territory, it was stunted by higher fuel costs because of the war in Iran, triggered by the United States and Israel, which led to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. The rising fuel prices have limited expansions in new orders and business activity.

Companies took on extra staff in April in response to rising workloads, but the rate of job creation was only marginal and the softest in three months. Some organisations reported that staff shortages had been behind the latest accumulation of backlogs of work, while others cited customer payment delays and issues securing raw materials. Outstanding business increased for the third consecutive month in April.

Further efforts were made to secure materials, with purchasing activity increasing for the seventeenth month running in April. Stocks of purchases also rose amid improving customer demand, and at a marked pace that was the sharpest in five months. When companies placed orders for materials, they often made sure to pay on time in order to secure deliveries. As a result, supplier lead times shortened again, albeit to the least extent in 2026 so far.

“The health of Nigeria’s private sector improved in April – remaining above the 50-point growth threshold for the third consecutive month – as new orders increased in line with higher customer numbers and rising demand even as price pressures remain prevalent.

“Accordingly, the headline PMI increased to 52.4 points in April from 51.9 points seen in March,” the Head of Equity Research West Africa at Stanbic IBTC Bank, Mr Muyiwa Oni, commented.

He further said, “Despite the improvement in new orders, we understand that lingering inflationary pressures limited the pace of expansion.

“Notably, companies increased their selling prices in April to the highest level since December 2024 in response to rising fuel and raw material costs. Staff costs also increased modestly as some companies increased their staff pay so as to help them with increasing transportation fares.

“Business expectations also improved in April compared to March as businesses plan to expand their operations through the opening of new branches, stock building, and entry into new markets.”

“The improved start of the second quarter of the year by Nigerian businesses continues to support our view of improved growth expectations in 2026 relative to 2025.

“Hence, we still maintain our expectation that the Nigerian economy is likely to grow by 4.22 per cent y/y in 2026, from 3.87 per cent y/y in 2025.

“We estimate the non-oil sector’s growth at 4.24 per cent y/y in 2026, from 3.71 per cent y/y in 2025, likely driven primarily by services, which we see growing by 5.64 per cent y/y in 2026 (vs 2025: 4.14 per cent y/y).

“The government’s continuous investment attraction across oil & gas, solid minerals, electricity, agriculture and general manufacturing should continue to support sentiment on production activity.

“However, the oil sector’s growth is likely to moderate to 3.01 per cent y/y (vs 2025: 8.50 per cent y/y), as we now expect crude oil production (including condensates) to average 1.70m bpd, from 1.64m bpd in 2025,” he added.