Author: Julius Alagbe

Oil Prices Decline as US Inventories Rise Ahead of Fed Meeting Oil prices declined in the global commodities market on Wednesday after the American Petroleum Institute (API) reported that the US crude oil inventory increased by 2.86 million barrels over the last week. The price decline was supported by uncertainty over the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) monetary policy, and the resolution of supply disruptions in Libya added to the downward pressure. The international benchmark Brent crude decreased by 0.3%, trading at $76.31 per barrel, while the US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) fell by 0.3%, reaching $73.34 per barrel, compared to…

Bitcoin Climbs to $101K Ahead FOMC Meeting With 58.25% dominance, Bitcoin (BTC-USD) price has climbed above $101,000 in the crypto market due to improved buying sentiment. The word largest digital asset rebounded amidst the negative effects of DeepSeek on tech stocks in major markets. The global market braced itself for the upcoming Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting. CME’s FedWatch tool has predicted that there is a 99.5% chance that the Fed will keep its interest rates unchanged at 4.25% to 4.50%. Interest re-direction has the potential to impact BTCUSD price movement. According to data from coinmarketcap.com, the global crypto…

Naira Rises Sharply as CBN, FPIs Boost FX Liquidity The naira saw a significant daily surge against the US dollar in the official market on account of strong FX liquidity bolstered by the Central Bank and foreign portfolio investors, or FPIs. According to spot data obtained from the forex market, the naira appreciated by 72 basis points in the official window, closing at N1,522.68 per US dollar. This followed sustained FX intervention by the CBN and the latest inflows from offshore investors into the financial markets. The exchange rate also appreciated by N20 to settle ₦1,620 per dollar in the…

Yield on Nigerian Treasury Bills Slips Below 25% The average yield on Nigerian Treasury bills slipped below 25% as sell pressures eased in the secondary market. The market experienced a surge in demand amidst debate over the consumer price index rebasing plan. Some analysts believe that rebasing to the latest date, 2024, will reduce the inflation figure and the asset pricing in the debt market. Fixed income market analysts reported that the Treasury bills market opened the week with robust demand for long-term securities, driven by attractive rates amid ample liquidity. The 1-year NTB attracted notable bids around 20.90%–21.10%, AIICO…

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has announced the waiver of the 2025 non-refundable annual license renewal fee for Bureau De Change

Transcorp Hotels Lost 10% over Twisted Investors Sentiment Transcorp Hotels Plc. plunged by about 10% in the equities market as investors offloaded the hospitality company shares amidst earnings expectation. The company stock saw huge gain that lifted its market value to N1 trillion category in the local bourse last year. The rally lasted long, and Transcorp Hotels fell below N1 trillion before it recovered from sell side actors onslaught in the latter part of 2024. According to trading record obtained from the Nigerian Exchange, Transcorp share price declined to N114.65 on Monday, lost 9.97% on the day from N127.35 …its…

GTCO Spikes to N2.128 Trn on New Shares Listing Market value of GTCO Plc spiked to N2.128 trillion at the beginning of the week as the financial services group listed its public offer on the Nigerian Exchange. The new shares listed increased its shares outstanding on the Nigerian Exchange, NGX, to 34.136 billion, and its market value surged. In a note, stockbrokers at Atlass Portfolios Limited told investors that the banking group listed its public offer of 9,000,000,000 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each at ₦44.50 per share on the exchange today. A further check on the Nigerian Exchange Data…

DeepSeek Beats ChatGPT in AI, Rivals Stocks Plunge Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) app DeepSeek has overtaken ChatGPT and other rivals to become the top-rated free application on Apple’s App Store in the United States, United Kingdom, China and other bellwether economies. In terms of capability against major rivals, DeepSeek-V3 achieves a significant breakthrough in inference speed over previous models. It tops the leaderboard among open-source models and rivals the most advanced closed-source models globally, the company said. The take for the market is DeepSeek cost effectiveness while running on cheap chips. In 2023, DeepSeeks was spun off from High-Flyer Quant,…

Nigeria’s sovereign Eurobond yield eased to 9.4% in the international market on foreign portfolio investors improved sentiment.

Zenith Bank Plc.’s capital base has increased to N614.65 billion following a significant oversubscribed hybrid offer..