Author: Julius Alagbe

Naira Falls against Dollar, Pound as FX Reserves Dip Below $38bn The naira dropped against the US dollar to close at N1599 in the official market, or the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM), data obtained from the Central Bank platform showed. The forex market liquidity has continued to buck the negative trend, bolstered by increased dollar inflows from local corporates and the central bank. The USD/NGN pair traded within a range of N1,575.00 to N1,620, according to data from the CBN. By the end of the session, the naira depreciated by 5 bps, closing at N1,599.7991. However, in the parallel…

Gambia Unlocks Access to $16.8m IMF Loan, More in Pipeline The Gambia and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) team reached a staff-level agreement on the request for access under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF) to enhance resilience to climate change. The authorities and the IMF team also reached a staff-level agreement on the third review of the authorities’ reform program supported by the IMF’s Extended Credit Facility. In a statement, IMF said the Gambia’s outlook remains positive, with economic growth increasing to 6 percent in 2024 and inflation returning to a single digit in early 2025. Progress continues in…

Banking Stocks See Huge Intraday Selloffs, NGX Down Sharply In an effort to balance their portfolio holdings ahead of Q1 earnings, equities investors were seen dumping banking stocks during the intraday trading session on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX). The market is bleeding profusely with 81 basis point intraday decline in the market value of all listed stocks on the NGX. Investors’ sentiment turned red after the rebased consumer price index pulled back in March. Stockbrokers said they have been executing more sell orders following the latest disinflation. Coincidentally, some offshore portfolio investors have continued to sell down naira assets. At…

MTN Nigeria Slides amidst Huge Cross Deal Telecommunication company MTN Nigeria Plc saw its market value decline slightly in the equities market following a huge cross deal on the telecom stock on Tuesday. The deal allows stockbrokers to match a buy and sell orders of the same stock outside the purview of market regulators. According to data from the Nigerian Exchange, the telecom market value fell slightly to N5.1 trillion after a 16 basis point decline in its share price. More than 11.3 million shares of the telecom company valued at N2.738 billion exchanged hands on the local bourse, according…

Naira Rises as CBN Injects Additional Dollar into FX Market NAIRA: In the local currency market, the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) official exchange rate appreciated by N5.50 per US dollar on Tuesday as FX demand pressures eased. Investment banking firm CardinalStone Partners Limited said in its investor note that the CBN was in the market today, selling over $30.00 million at rates between N1,590.00/$ and N1,601.50/$. Accordingly, the naira appreciated at the CBN NFEM window by 1.66% to close at N1,599.00 per greenback. However, in the parallel market, the naira depreciated by 31 bps to settle at N1,620.00/$. The…

Nigeria’s headline inflation rate jumped by 105 basis points to 24.23% in March, data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) revealed.

Meta to Use Public EU User Content to Train AI Models Meta Platforms would soon start training its Artificial Intelligence (AI) models with public content shared by adults in the European Union. The company made the announcement on Monday, adding that people can also object to their data being used. Meta would use public content such as posts and comments as well as interactions people have with its AI, including questions and queries, to improve its models for European users. Content used to train its models would include the platforms Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger. The move followed the rollout…

Naira Falls Slightly as Market Normalises CBN FX Interventions The naira fell against the US dollar, albeit at a slow pace, due to successive FX intervention supports by the monetary authority. Exchange rates across the official and parallel markets are also inching to converge, though with intermittent fluctuation around N1600 range. In the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM)—which the Central Bank said is derived at Volume Weighted Average and stands as the official exchange rate for the day—the naira lost  ₦0.70 to close at $/₦1,604.48 from N1603.78 the previous day. Last Friday, the CBN intervened yet again, selling $167 million,…

Zenith Bank Nears 52-Week High on Soft Rally Zenith Bank Plc equities market activities bucked the trend on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) platform, inching near its 52-week high. The bank share price increased to N50 in the local bourse on Monday, despite sell pressures witnessed across key indexes. During the trading session, Zenith Bank actually reached N51 but retreated due to depressed equities market investors’ sentiment. Trading activity on the bank stock was relatively heavy, driven by buy- and sell-side actors ahead of the first quarter earnings release and dividend payments. Data showed more than 55.428 million shares of Zenith…

AVA Infrastructure Fund Pays N98.189/Unit to Unitholders AVA Infrastructure Fund has announced distribution of more than N400.122 million to its unitholders on April 14, according to its regulatory filing on the Nigerian Exchange. The closed-end fund registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission distributed N98,189.60 kobo per unit to unitholders for the six-month period from Oct 9, to April 2025. With 4,075 outstanding units, details from the Nigerian Bourse showed that AVA Infrastructure is worth N4.075 trillion, at a unit price of N1 million.  During 2024, the fund’s total income was ₦798.61 million, according to its financial report. The net…