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Economy

US Shares Open Higher on ECB Stimulus, Tariff Delay

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By Investors Hub

The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a higher opening on Thursday, with stocks likely to extend the strong upward move seen over the course of the previous session.

A positive reaction to the European Central Bank?s monetary policy decision is likely to contribute to initial strength on Wall Street, with the ECB cutting rates and announcing a massive new bond-buying program.

The ECB lowered its main deposit rate by 10 basis points to 0.50 percent and announced plans to restart its quantitative easing program by purchasing assets at a pace of 20 billion euros per month beginning November 1st.

The central bank said it expects to keep interest rates at their present or lower levels until it has seen a sufficient increase in the inflation outlook.

The asset purchase program is expected to run for as long as necessary to reinforce the accommodative impact of the ECB?s policy rates.

Following the ECB announcement, President Donald Trump took another shot at the Federal Reserve, which is due to announce its latest monetary policy decision next week.

?European Central Bank, acting quickly, Cuts Rates 10 Basis Points. They are trying, and succeeding, in depreciating the Euro against the VERY strong Dollar, hurting U.S. exports,? Trump tweeted. ?And the Fed sits, and sits, and sits. They get paid to borrow money, while we are paying interest!?

Early buying interest is also likely to be generated in reaction to news that Trump is temporarily delaying raising tariffs on $250 billion worth of Chinese imports.

Calling the move a ?gesture of good will,? Trump delayed raising the tariffs rate from 25 percent to 30 percent from October 1st to October 15th.

After moving modestly higher early in the session, stocks saw further upside over the course of the trading day on Wednesday. With the advance on the day, the major averages ended the session at their best closing levels in over a month.

The major averages reached new highs going into the close, ending the session at their best levels of the day. The Dow advanced 227.61 points or 0.9 percent to 27,137.04, the Nasdaq jumped 85.52 points or 1.1 percent to 8,169.68 and the S&P 500 climbed 21.54 points or 0.7 percent to 3,000.93.

The strength on Wall Street came following news that China is granting tariff exemptions for 16 types of American-made products as a sign of goodwill ahead of the next round of trade talks.

The list included varieties of animal feed such as alfalfa and fish meal, cancer drugs gefitinib and capecitabine, base oil for lubricants and lubricating grease, and some farm chemicals.

The Chinese Customs Tariff Commission said the tariff suspension would take effect next Tuesday and remain in place for a year.

Stocks also benefited from optimism about new global stimulus ahead of the European Central Bank’s monetary policy decision as well as next week’s Federal Reserve meeting.

On the U.S. economic front, the Labor Department released a report showing a modest uptick in producer prices in the month of August.

The Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand inched up by 0.1 percent in August after rising by 0.2 percent in July. Economists had expected prices to come in unchanged.

Excluding food and energy prices, core producer prices rose by 0.3 percent in August after edging down by 0.1 percent in July. Core prices had been expected to increase by 0.2 percent.

Computer hardware stocks showed a substantial move to the upside over the course of the trading session, driving the NYSE Arca Computer Hardware Index up by 2.3 percent to its best closing level in a year.

Significant strength also emerged among networking stocks, as reflected by the 2.3 percent jump by the NYSE Arca Networking Index. The index ended the session at a one-month closing high.

Steel stocks also turned in a particularly strong performance on the day, resulting in a 2 percent advance by the NYSE Arca Steel Index.

Telecom, brokerage, and housing stocks also saw considerable strength, moving higher along with most of the other major sectors.

Dipo Olowookere is a journalist based in Nigeria that has passion for reporting business news stories. At his leisure time, he watches football and supports 3SC of Ibadan. Mr Olowookere can be reached via [email protected]

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Economy

Presco, GTCO List Additional Shares on Stock Exchange

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Nigeria's stock exchange

By Aduragbemi Omiyale

The duo of Presco Plc and Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) Plc has listed additional shares on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited.

The extra equities of these two publicly-listed organisations were admitted to the local stock exchange last Friday, increasing their respective total issued and fully paid-up shares.

For Presco, it listed fresh 166,666,667 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each on the daily official list of the NGX on Friday, January 30, 2026, increasing its total issued and fully paid-up stocks from 1,000,000,000 units to 1,166,666,667 units.

The additional equities were from the rights issue of the firm allotted to shareholders on the basis of one new share for every existing six ordinary shares held as at close of business on Monday, October 13, 2025.

In a circular issued over the weekend, the NGX said, “Trading licence holders are hereby notified that additional 166,666,667 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each of Presco Plc were on Friday, January 30, 2026, listed on the daily official list of Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited (NGX).

“The additional shares arose from the company’s rights issue of 166,666,667 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each at N1,420.00 per share on the basis of one new share for every existing six ordinary shares held as at close of business on Monday, October 13, 2025.

“With the listing of the additional 166,666,667 ordinary shares, the total issued and fully paid-up shares of Presco Plc has now increased from 1,000,000,000 to 1,166,666,667 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each.”

As for GTCO, it listed additional125,000,000 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each at N80.00 per unit offered through private placement.

The fresh equities taken to Customs Street have raised the total issued and fully paid-up shares of GTCO from 36,425,229,514 to 36,550,229,514 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each.

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Economy

FG, States, Local Councils Share N1.969trn FAAC Allocation

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faac allocation

By Adedapo Adesanya

A total of N1.969 trillion was shared to the federal government, the 36 state governments and the 774 local government councils from the gross revenue of N2.585 trillion generated by the nation in December 2025.

The money was disbursed to the three tiers of government at the January 2026 Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting held in Abuja.

In a statement issued on Monday by the Director of Press and Public Relations in the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF), Mr Bawa Mokwa, it was stated that the FAAC allocation comprised statutory revenue of N1.084 trillion, distributable Value Added Tax (VAT) revenue of N846.507 billion, and Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL) revenue of N38.110 billion.

“Total deduction for cost of collection was N104.697 billion, while total transfers, refunds, and savings were N511.585 billion,” the statement partly read.

It was also revealed that from the N1.969 trillion total distributable revenue, the federal Government received the sum of N653.500 billion, and the state governments received N706.469 billion, the local government councils received N513.272 billion, and the sum of N96.083 billion was shared with the benefiting state as 13 per cent derivation revenue.

He said of the N1.084 trillion distributable statutory revenue, the central government received N520.807 billion, the state governments got N264.160 billion, the local councils were given N203.656 billion, and N96.083 billion was shared to the benefiting states as 13 per cent derivation revenue.

FAAC noted that from the N846.507 billion distributable VAT earnings, the federal government got N126.976 billion, the state governments received N423.254 billion, and the local government councils got N296.277 billion.

From the revenue from EMTL, Mr Mokwa explained that the national government was given N5.717 billion, the state governments got N19.055 billion, and the councils collected N13.338 billion.

He added that the companies’ Income Tax (CIT)/CGT and STD, Import Duty and Value Added Tax (VAT) increased significantly in December, while oil and gas royalty, CET levies and fees increase marginally, with excise duty, Petroleum Profit Tax (PPT)/Hydrocarbon Tax (HT), and EMTL considerably down.

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Economy

Oil Exports to Drop as Shell Commences Maintenance on Bonga FPSO

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Bonga FPSO

By Adedapo Adesanya

Nigeria’s oil exports will drop in February following the shutdown of the Bonga Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel scheduled for turnaround maintenance.

Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo) Limited confirmed the development in a statement issued, adding that gas output will also decline during the maintenance period.

This comes as SNEPCo begun turnaround maintenance on the Bonga FPSO, the statement signed by its Communications Manager, Mrs Gladys Afam-Anadu, said, describing the exercise as a statutory integrity assurance programme designed to extend the facility’s operational lifespan.

SNEPCo Managing Director, Mr Ronald Adams, said the maintenance would ensure safe, efficient operations for another 15 years.

“The scheduled maintenance is designed to reduce unplanned deferments and strengthen the asset’s overall resilience.

“We expect to resume operations in March following completion of the turnaround,” he said.

Mr Adams said the scope included inspections, certification, regulatory checks, integrity upgrades, engineering modifications and subsea assurance activities.

“The FPSO, about 120 kilometres offshore in over 1,000 metres of water, can produce 225,000 barrels of oil daily.

“It also produces 150 million standard cubic feet of gas per day,” he said.

He said maintaining the facility was critical to Nigeria’s production stability, energy security and revenue objectives.

Mr Adams noted that the 2024 Final Investment Decision on Bonga North increased the importance of the FPSO’s reliability. He said the turnaround would prepare the facility for additional volumes from the Bonga North subsea tie-back project.

According to him, the last turnaround maintenance was conducted in October 2022.

“On February 1, 2023, the asset produced its one billionth barrel since operations began in 2005,” Mr Adams said.

SNEPCo operates the Bonga field in partnership with Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria (Deepwater) Limited and Nigerian Agip Exploration Limited, under a Production Sharing Contract with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited.

The last turnaround maintenance activity on the FPSO took place in October 2022. On February 1, the following year, the asset delivered its 1 billionth barrel of oil since production commenced in 2005.

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