Author: Julius Alagbe

Coach Augustine Eguavoen says his squad “is on a momentum” as they prepare for Tuesday’s 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifying match against Rwanda

Portugal substitute Cristiano Ronaldo struck a late winner as his side came from a goal down to beat Scotland 2-1 and continue their strong start to the Nations

Oil Under Intense Pressure, Saudi Cuts Price Oil prices came under intense pressure in the global commodities market due to an imbalance between demand and supply sides.  Brent fell towards US$71 per barrel last week. ICE Brent settled 2.24% lower on Friday, leaving it just above US$71 per barrel. Demand weakness and a soft oil balance in 2025 are still clearly a concern. While OPEC+ cuts leave the market a bit tighter for the remainder of this year, this doesn’t resolve the surplus that is expected next year. However, prices are trading stronger in early morning trading today. Saudi Arabia…

FCMB’s Market Value Steady as Public Offers Close The market valuation of FCMB Plc, a Tier-2 banking group, on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) steadied following the successful conclusion of public offers last week. The financial services group ordinary shares offer for subscription ended on Wednesday, and the same day there was demand on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange. This nudged FCMB’s share price higher by 50 kobo in the equities market on Wednesay. Details showed that the banking group share price closed at N7.7 per share.  As a result, the market placed N152.480 billion on FCMB Plc’s 19,802,710,754 shares…

Inflows into Nigeria’s FX Market Increases by 21% The volume of US dollars that flew into the Nigerian autonomous foreign exchange (FX) market increased by more than 21% on a monthly comparison basis in July, according to data from the FMDQ Exchange platform. The surge was spurred by an improved revenue generation from foreign transactions. This boosted exporters FX inflows contribution to the currency supplied in the market in August as per data obtained from the FMDQ securities exchange platform. On the import side, Nigeria continues to raise demand for FX priced goods and services. The huge FX liabilities on…

Money Market Rates Surge as OMO, CRR Debits Drag Liquidity The interbank rates climbed to about 32% apiece in the money market due to sustained strain on the financial system liquidity.  The funding level in the financial system causes short term benchmark interest rates to increase as the market continues to allocate resources to better use. The system liquidity started the week positive but decreased during the week, following the OMO auction settlement worth ₦459.60 billion. Due to a strain on funding level, transaction at the money market environment were conducted at higher rates. Data from the FMDQ platform showed…

CBN Slashes Treasury, OMO Bill Rates at Main Auctions The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has further slashed spot rates on short term borrowing instruments as investors continue to park funds in money market assets. The average yield on short term investment options declined further in the financial markets due to investors’ aggressive demand following the inflation rate slowdown. The average yield on Nigerian Treasury bills declined due to sustained demand across tenors in the secondary market. The market witnessed similar buying interest in the OMO bills segment. The demand for these naira assets dragged yield lower as the market…

Petrol Price Hike Threatens Nigeria’s Disinflation Expectation –Analysts Nigeria’s inflation rate could reverse from the current trend in September due to the magnitude of the price hike, analysts said in a discussion with MarketForces Africa. In a separate chat with financial experts, MarketForces Africa gathered that the fact that fuel is fundamental to every economic activities could re-direct inflation trajectory as the effects filter into business. “.. petrol pump price increment by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited will halt disinflation,” an email note from LSintelligence Associates stated. Last week, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited hiked the retail pump…

Market Value of Top 5 Banks in Nigeria Drops to N4.77Trn Sell side activities on Nigerian Tier-1 banks stocks plunged the banking index down by 12 basis points, according to data from the domestic bourse. This week, all the big banks fell through in the hands of investors trading highs and lows on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) platforms due to riskoff sentiment. At the end of closing session on Friday, all the big banking names, namely GTCO, Zenith, UBA, FBN Holdings, and Access Holdings, were worth N4.776 trillion, or $2.9 billion in the market. Last week, MarketForces Africa stock tracking…

U.S Fines Six Major Rating Agencies $49m for Breaches The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has imposed fines totaling $49 million on six major credit rating agencies for their failure to maintain and preserve electronic communications as required under federal securities laws. The fine follow was the authority called ‘significant failures’ by the firms and their personnel to maintain and preserve electronic communications. The affected ratings agencies, including Moody’s Investor Services, S&P Global Ratings, received the heaviest fines, each agreeing to pay a $20 million civil penalty. Fitch Ratings was fined $8 million, while A.M. Best Rating Services, HR…