Author: Julius Alagbe

Julius Alagbe is a senior financial journalist and Editor at MarketForces Africa with nearly two decades of experience in finance, accounting, and economics reporting.He is one of Nigeria's most prolific financial market reporters, covering capital markets, monetary policy, corporate earnings, banking, telecoms, and macroeconomic developments across Africa.Julius has built a strong footprint reporting on Nigeria's leading corporates and financial services sector, including coverage of the Nigerian Exchange Group, Central Bank of Nigeria monetary operations, MTN Nigeria, GTCO, and major investment banking transactions.He regularly monitors the CBN’s open market operations, interbank FX markets, and equity market movements, providing readers with real-time intelligence on Nigeria’s financial landscape.His reporting draws on direct access to institutional research from firms including Moody’s Ratings, CardinalStone Securities, Fitch, and other leading African investment houses.Julius brings analytical depth and editorial rigour to every story, making complex financial data accessible to professionals, investors, and policymakers across Africa.Julius Alagbe is based in Lagos, Nigeria.

Naira Trades Sideways Against USD as FX Pressure Tempers

News

Naira Trades Sideways Against USD as FX Pressure Tempers The naira traded sideways at the Nigerian foreign exchange market (NFEM) on Monday amid low FX buying and selling activity in official transactions. Both pairs -the naira and the US dollar- maintained their relative strength as the energy crisis raised global inflation risks and amid the US Fed’s hawkish stance, which affected African currencies. The market is seeing FX trading that continues to swing both sides in the absence of directional bets by eligible actors at the official window. The local unit closed at N1379.6504 per US dollar at the official…

Read More

XRP Price Dives Ahead of July 17 U.S. House CLARITY Hearing

News

XRP Price Dives Ahead of July 17 U.S. House CLARITY Hearing XRP dived to $1.07, closely tracking a broader market sell-off driven primarily by escalating geopolitical tensions and inflation fears. The drop was amplified by a technical breakdown below key support and fading on-chain demand. Broader market risk-off sentiment was triggered by renewed U.S.-Iran military strikes, which pushed oil prices higher and stoked inflation concerns, pressuring all risk assets. XRP moved in lockstep with Bitcoin as a risk asset. Over the weekend, renewed U.S. airstrikes on Iran raised crude oil prices by over 5%, reviving fears of persistent inflation and…

Read More

Cardano Dips 4.3% Amid Founder Charles Hoskinson Exit Rumours

News

Cardano Dips 4.3% Amid Founder Charles Hoskinson Exit Rumours Cardano (ADA) price is down 4.27% to $0.1581 on Monday, underperforming a declining broader market, primarily driven by a derivatives-led leverage reset and liquidations. ADA is facing selling pressure amid rumours of retirement by its founder, Charles Hoskinson.  According to crypto traders, derivatives unwind, with bearish futures positioning and $80.03 million in liquidations amplifying the sell-off. A sharp drop in futures Open Interest to around $389 million, along with a negative funding rate, signals that traders are exiting bullish positions. Crypto analysts said this was compounded by $80.03 million in ADA…

Read More

South African Rand Weakens on Inflation Concerns

News

South African Rand Weakens on Inflation Concerns The South African rand is trading weaker on Monday as investors favour the US dollar amid heightened geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. The market is weighing inflation concerns following a spike in global oil prices. With a US Federal Reserve rate-hike signal, the market anticipates that the South African Reserve Bank will continue to adjust policy rates to align with the global outlook. In a brief, First National Bank (FNB) said the rand is changing hands at R16.38 to the US dollar, R18.68 to the euro, and R21.91 to the British pound…

Read More