Author: Olu Anisere

PenCom Gives Employers Until June 1 to Adopt New Pension Remittance Process The National Pension Commission (PenCom) has set June 1, as deadline for employers to fully adopt a  new pension remittance process.The PenCom announced the launch of the pension contribution remittance system, a platform designed to optimise the process of remitting pension contributions into employees’ Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs) on Thursday. According to a statement from the management, in Abuja, the process is to streamline the process of remitting pension contributions into employees’ RSAs. The initiative, it said, was developed in collaboration with the Pension Operators’ Association of Nigeria…

Moody’s Downgrades Outlook on Rwanda to Negative Moody’s Ratings has changed the outlook on the Government of Rwanda to negative from stable and affirmed the long-term local and foreign currency issuer ratings and foreign currency senior unsecured debt rating at B2. According to the rating agency, the negative outlook reflects risks to Rwanda’s credit profile associated with the ongoing conflict in the eastern provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Notwithstanding renewed diplomatic efforts, including the meeting between the presidents of Rwanda and DRC in Qatar on 18 March, to de-escalate tensions and renewed calls for a ceasefire, the…

Equities Investors Seen Exiting Positions in Banking Stocks Nigerian stocks are tracking lower during intraday trading session on the back of weak investors’ sentiment. The Nigerian Exchange All share index is down by 28 basis points as profit taking activities overshadow bargain on growth, value stocks. This is coming amidst expectation that the exchange would post huge gain after Zenith Bank announced landmark earnings performance boosted by earnings from treasury investment. At mid-day, the NGX All Share Index declined by -0.28%, Alpha Morgan Capital Limited said in an emailed note to investors, indicating a bearish trend has gone deeper than…

Secure Electronic Technology Falls by 8.5% over Selloff Lottery and gaming company, Secure Electronics Technology (ticker: NSLTECH) Plc. plunged sharply during early trading session in the equities market as about 16.5 million volume valued at N8.962 million exchanged hands. Investors exited positions in the company stocks after the company released 2024 earnings scorecard. The lottery, gaming stock has seen strong volatility lately amidst strong market activities. Its share price dropped by 8.47% on Thursday in a pre-planned investors sell down that left its market price at 54 kobo. Market value of Secure Electronic Tech plc has reduced by about 8.5%…

Nigerian Exchange Sheds N74bn as Investors Dump Stocks Equities investors portfolio value declined by about N74 billion on Wednesday due to sell pressures on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) trading platform. Market index or the All-Share Index fell by 0.10% to 105,485.99 points, bringing the year-to-date return to 2.49%. Today’s profit-taking activities across key sectoral indexes dragged the local bourse down by N73.92 billion to close at N66.14 trillion. Despite the overall downturn, investor sentiment remained positive, with strong market breadth, stockbrokers said. Key indicators fell sharply as data from the Nigerian bourse revealed that 30 tickers gained relative to 17…

Bitcoin Climbs as Crypto Investors Regain ‘Mojo’ Bitcoin (BTC-USD) price trade position in the cryptocurrency market on Wednesday as retail, and institutional investors regained their mojo with heightened market activity and engagement. Increased retail and investors demand for BTCUSD also drove the global crypto market cap by about 0.7% to $2.88 trillion. This week, BlackRock spot Bitcoin exchange traded fund (ETF) made another major move scooping up 480 BTC worth a whopping $42 million. According to data from the CoinMarketCap.com, the world’s largest digital asset, BTCUSD, has gained 4.61% in the last seven trading session, trading at $87, 824 at…

US Dollar Extends Bullish Momentum in FX Markets The US dollar rose against its major trading partners early Wednesday in the foreign exchange (FX) markets except for a decline versus the Canadian dollar, ahead of durable goods orders data for February. In the first three month in 2-25, the dollar index – which had rallied strongly between September and January – is headed for a roughly 4% drop. It was last stalled at 104.28. A quick summary of foreign exchange activity heading into Wednesday showed that USDEUR fell to 1.0791 from 1.0795 at the Tuesday US close and 1.0821 at…

Oil Prices Increase Amidst Supply Risk, Demand Signal Oil prices climbed in the global commodity market on Wednesday as supply concerns grew amid US efforts to curb Venezuelan and Iranian exports, while a larger-than-expected drop in US crude inventories added support. The international benchmark, Brent crude, increased by around 0.1% trading at $72.66 per barrel, up from $72.59 at the previous session’s close. The US benchmark, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose by about 0.12%, settling at $69.15 per barrel, compared to its prior session close of $69.07. US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday imposing tariffs on…

Yield on Nigerian Treasury Bills Falls Ahead of Auction The average yield on Nigerian Treasury bills yield fell in the secondary market due to pre-auction demand by investors seeking to lock in profit.  The average yield declined by 4 baiss points (bps) to 19.24% as market participants actively bid across the curve haead of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) primary market auction (PMA) on Wednesday.  Trading activities were focused on mid-to-long tenors – June 2025, Sept 2025, Mar 2026- while some sell side actors anticipated higher yields at midweek auction. Demand have been relatively stabilise amidst expectation that inflation will…

GTCO Rises by 6.53% to N2.116 Trillion Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) Plc. attracted investors’ attention in the equities segment of the Nigerian Exchange on Monday, driving the banking index higher on the day with 6.53% capital appreciation. The financial services group share price surged to N62 in the equities market as 6.758 million shares valued at about N418 million exchanged hands. The latest share price surge marked the peak level attained by GTCO in the last seven trading sessions in the stock market. The most capitalised banking group had doubled down on its 52-week low, now trading at a…