Author: Julius Alagbe

GBPUSD Climbs as U.S. Threatens UK, EU over Greenland The British pound (GBPUSD) strengthened to around $1.342 on Tuesday, moving away from a four-week low as the US stepped up its attempt to secure Greenland for national security purposes. The push up was helped by renewed pressure on the dollar index after President Donald Trump revived tariff threats linked to his push to assert control over Greenland. U.S dollar declined against its trading pairs across the forex market amidst retaliation expectations against the renewed U.S. tariff threat against the UK and the European Union. Trump warned that countries opposing his…

Oil Prices Decline as Supply Concerns Deflate Oil prices declined in the global commodity market on Monday as supply concerns generated by the U.S. plan to attack Iran deflated sharply. According to reports, US President Donald Trump had halted plans for a potential attack on Iran, easing worries about supply disruptions from the Middle East. Brent crude traded at $63.83 per barrel, down around 0.5% from last Friday’s close of $64.13. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was at $59.13 per barrel, down around 0.5% compared with $59.44 last week. Trump aborted planned military strikes against Iran due to a…

Investors’ Appetite for FGN Bonds Ease Ahead of Q1 Supply Investors’ appetite for the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) tightened with subdued trading activities in the secondary market ahead of anticipated huge supply. The Debt Management Office is scheduled to launch its 2026 borrowing plan, and market expectations remain that the widening budget deficit will enhance supply. The expectation, and latest disinflation reversal, has triggered some portfolio adjustment as wealth managers, pension fund administrators and other continue to device trading approach to optimise return. Despite disinflation, real return on fixed income market securities remained at double digit. Analysts are also…

Fitch Affirms Saudi Arabia at ‘A+’, Outlook Stable Fitch Ratings has affirmed Saudi Arabia’s Long-Term Foreign-Currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at ‘A+’ with a stable outlook.  The affirmation of Saudi Arabia’s ratings reflects its strong fiscal and external balance sheets, with government debt/GDP and sovereign net foreign assets (SNFA) considerably stronger than both the ‘A’ and ‘AA’ medians, and significant fiscal buffers in the form of deposits and other public sector assets. Ratings analysts noted that Saudi Arabia’s oil dependence, World Bank Governance Indicators (WBGI) and vulnerability to geopolitical shocks have improved but remain weaknesses. The kingdom’s deep and broad…

NGX Market Cap Hits ATH as Investors See N2.6trn Weekly Gain With the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) at an all-time high (ATH), equity investors recorded a weekly gain of about N2.6 trillion following a sustained rally in share prices. The NGX All-Share Index rose by 2.36 per cent to close at 166,129.50, while market capitalisation increased by 2.48 per cent to N106.354 trillion, up from the previous week’s 162,298.08 and N103.776 trillion, respectively. As a result, the stock market delivered a total gain of N2.578 trillion to investors within the review period. Similarly, all other indices finished higher with the exception…

Ethereum Classic Gains 4% as Crypto Investors Sentiment Improves Ethereum Classic (ETC) climbed by about 4% in the last 24 hours in the cryptocurrency market, outperforming its 7-day and 30-day trends, according to data from CoinMarketCap.com. ETC navigates protocol upgrades and institutional interest while facing scepticism over its long-term viability. Its price surged following a new technical breakout, with a new rally forming. Trading data showed that ETC is hovering near $13 on Saturday as volume edged higher by about 5% to $70.18 million at the press time. This boosted ETC market capitalisation to $2.01 billion. Its local market cap…

XMR Plunges by 12% over Hack-Related Sell Pressures Monero (XMRUSD) plunged by approximately 12% in the last 24 hours in the cryptocurrency market, underperforming the broader crypto market’s 0.03% dip. The fast and furious price depreciation follows a 95% year-to-date upswing that lifted its market price to $799, driven by privacy demand amid tightening EU/Dubai regulations. Price has fallen to $628 in 24 hours, stemming from a triple threat: natural profit-taking after a vertical rally, hack-related sell pressure, and regulatory anxiety unique to privacy coins. XMRUSD rode on a privacy-fuelled rally but faces turbulence from whale movements and regulatory shadows.…

Ethiopia Gets $261m IMF Loan for BoP, Fiscal Financing Needs The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has announced the completion of the fourth review of the 48-month Extended Credit Facility (ECF) for Ethiopia. The Board’s decision allows for an immediate disbursement of about US$261 million, helping Ethiopia meet its balance of payments (BoP) and fiscal financing needs.  The completion of the review brings total disbursements under the arrangement to about US$2.183 billion. Ethiopia’s ECF arrangement for a total of SDR 2.556 billion – 850 percent of quota- or about US$3.4 billion at the time of program approval…

Oil Prices Surge Week-on-Week over Heightened Uncertainties Oil prices rose this week as investors priced in heightened uncertainties surrounding the US Federal Reserve (Fed) and growing geopolitical risks linked to developments in Venezuela, Iran and Cuba, which raised concerns over potential supply disruptions. International benchmark Brent crude traded at $64.04 per barrel, up 1.56% from last Friday’s close of $62.74. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose 1.59% to $59.76 per barrel, compared with $58.61 a week earlier. Prices gained early in the week on expectations that the Fed could move toward interest rate cuts, weakening the US dollar and…

EU Removes Nigeria from Financial Crime Watch List  Nigeria has achieved a major international milestone in its campaign against money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing. This followed its removal from the European Union’s (EU) list of high-risk third countries under the EU Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) framework. The delisting is contained in the European Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) C (2025) 8460, adopted on Dec. 4, 2025, in line with updates issued by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) at its October 2025 Plenary. This is contained in statement by the Chief Executive Officer(CEO), Nigerian…