Author: Julius Alagbe

Trade War: China Retaliates with Higher Tariffs on U.S Goods China has imposed tariffs of 15 percent on imports of coal and liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States in retaliation for Washington’s 10 percent levies on Chinese goods. On Tuesday, Beijing announced that there would be 10 percent tariffs on imports from the US of crude oil, agricultural machinery, large-displacement vehicles and pick-up trucks. The new measures were in response to the “unilateral tariff hike” by the US, China’s Ministry of Finance said, adding that Washington’s decision “seriously violates World Trade Organisation rules, does nothing to resolve its…

Jaiz Bank Hits Record High After Earnings Beat Jaiz Bank Plc traded at a 52-week high in the equities market following higher demand for the Islamic lender stocks on the Nigerian Exchange. Key events acting as catalysts for improved investors’ sentiment include recent new capital base achievements and earnings surge. According to data obtained from the local bourse, Jaiz Bank share price rose to N3.3, its highest price in 52 weeks, from N3.26 on the back of huge volume of shares traded in the market. The positive price movement, albeit marginal, raised the non-interest bank’s market value to N147 billion…

OPEC+ to Monitor Adherence to Oil Production Adjustment The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and non-OPEC countries (OPEC+) have reaffirmed commitments to monitor production adjustment aimed at maintaining stability in the global oil market. The OPEC made this known in the resolution of its 58th Meeting of the Joint Ministerial Monitoring Committee (JMMC) which held via videoconference on Monday. The meeting reviewed the crude oil production data for November and December, 2025 and highlighted the overall conformity for OPEC and non-OPEC countries involved in the Declaration of Cooperation (DoC). “The improved conformity further reaffirms the DoC countries’ shared objectives…

FEC Approves $1.07 billion for Health Sector Reform The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved 1.07 billion dollars for healthcare sector reforms under the Human Capital Opportunities for Prosperity and Equity (HOPE) programme. The Federal Government also approved a N4.8 billion allocation for HIV treatment, Mr Wale Edun, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, said while addressing State House correspondents after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting on Monday. He said the International Development Association (IDA) provided two concessional loans of 500 million dollars each, alongside 70 million dollars in grant funding from other international bodies.…

Oil prices rallied in the global commodity market on Monday as the U.S. slammed higher tariffs on its major suppliers, Canada and Mexico with a 10% tariff hike on China. Brent crude rose by 0.03%, trading at $76.33 per barrel, while the US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) increased by 0.2%, reaching $73.56 per barrel.

Nigerian US Dollar Bond Yield Dips by 10bps to 9.3% The Nigerian US dollar bond yield dipped by 10 basis points week on week to close at 9.3% as foreign investors maintained positive sentiment in the international market last week.  The buying interest heated up after the US Federal Reserve kept fed fund rates unchanged amidst healthy economic data and President Donald Trump called for rates to be cut. Looking towards the Sub-Saharan papers, demand for African papers increased as foreign portfolio investors capitalised on attractive yields. The bullish touch was witnessed across the short, mid, and long ends of…

Fitch Affirms Kenya at ‘B-‘ with Stable Outlook Fitch Ratings has affirmed Kenya’s Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at ‘B-‘ with a stable outlook. Kenya’s ‘B-‘rating reflects strong medium-term growth prospects, a diversified economy and recent strengthening of the monetary policy framework. The rating is constrained by weak governance, high debt servicing costs, a significant level of informality constraining government revenues and high external indebtedness underpinned by challenges to fiscal consolidation, despite increased efforts to narrow the budget deficit. Fitch said the stable outlook reflects expectation that continued strong official creditor support will help alleviate near-term external liquidity pressures,…

CBN Priced OMO Bills Rate at 22.65%, Raised N1 Trillion The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) sold 361-day OMO bills at a spot rate of 22.65% at the main auction conducted on Friday. The market has seen an improved US dollar, bolstered by foreign investors seeking to take positions in local debt assets. At the OMO auction, the CaBN offered N600 billion across two long-dated maturities, CardinalStone Securities Limited said in an investors’’ note. Due to a robust liquidity level in the financial system, the offer was significantly oversubscribed amidst expectation of an interest rate adjustment at the monetary policy…

DeepSeek Disruption May Lead to More Sustainable AI Investment –Fitch The emergence of DeepSeek, a Chinese AI model demonstrating higher efficiency than prevailing models, highlights the risk of AI infrastructure overcapacity if the current pace of investment continues, says Fitch Ratings. This development could moderate outsized revenue growth for AI chip makers but result in more sustainable AI infrastructure investment, limiting the severity of an eventual downturn. DeepSeek alleges to have been able to produce competitive results using significantly fewer and less advanced semiconductors to build its AI model (R1). This calls into question the necessity of well over $50…

Oando, Sterling Plc Plunge Intraday over Selling Rally Oando and Sterling Plc, among other decliners, dragged the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) backward during the intraday trading session. The sell pressures mounted in early trading hours on Friday with massive selldowns in Oando Plc., Sterling Bank, FCMB, and others. This trading pattern reversed the previous day’s bargain hunting in the equities amidst corporate earnings releases. The buying attraction on Oando and FCMB Plc was noted to ease after their earnings release showed key metrics mirrored pressures. At midday, the NGX All Share Index trended negatively, reflecting a loss of -0.11%, Alpha Morgan…