Author: Olu Anisere

Tech, AI Stocks Tumble – How, Why, and What’s Next? The market turbulence, which saw major US stock indices experience their worst day in over 18 months on Wednesday, is creating a unique buying opportunity for savvy investors, particularly in the technology and artificial intelligence (AI) sectors. The comments made available to MarketForces Africa from Nigel Green, the CEO of deVere Group, one of the world’s largest independent financial advisory and asset management organizations, comes as the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite tumbled by 2.3% and 3.6%, respectively, with the decline driven by some of the most influential tech stocks.…

Oando, Transcorp Drive Midday Gain on Nigerian Exchange Oando, Transnational Incorporation and banking names are driving midday gain on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) on Friday amidst flood of earning releases from listed companies. The market has seen rapid weight loss in the past days due to risk off sentiments triggered by increase in benchmark interest rate by the monetary policy committee of the Central Bank. Most investors exited their positions in banking names while insurance stocks were priced lower amidst earnings festival in the local bourse. At mid-day trading, the NGX All share Index trended bullish showing a gain of…

Reps Give EFCC Chairman 4-day Ultimatum to Appear Before it The House of Representatives Committee on Financial Crimes has given Mr Ola Olukoyede, Chairman, Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), till July 30 to appear before it over budgetary allocation issues. The committee said that Olukoyede, along with his management team, should appear to answer questions relating to the commission’s budget performance and its challenges. Rep. Obinna Onwusibe, the hairman of the committee, expressed the panel’s displeasure at an oversight of the commission’s office in Abuja. The committee condemned what it described as the snobbish attitude of the chairman and…

Fitch Revises Outlooks on FBN Holdings, First Bank of Nigeria Fitch Ratings has revised the Outlooks on FBN Holdings Plc’s (FBNH) and its main operating subsidiary First Bank of Nigeria Ltd.’s (FBN) Long-Term Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) to Positive from Stable and affirmed the IDRs at ‘B-‘. The revision of the Outlooks mirrors the recent sovereign outlook revision and reflects Fitch’s view that Nigeria’s Long-Term IDRs are likely to represent less of a constraint on the issuers’ standalone creditworthiness in the near term. Fitch has also affirmed the issuers’ National Long-Term Ratings at ‘A(nga)’ with stable outlooks. According to the…

Nigeria, China Hold Crucial Talk on Evergreen City – Envoy Chief Ajuri Ngelale, Special Presidential Envoy on Climate Action, said his team had a meeting on Thursday with the management of China National Building Materials Corporation (CNBM), Beijing, China. He said, in statement on Friday, that discussion at the meeting focused on areas of mutual interest with respect to the Evergreen City Project. He said the Chinese delegation was led by Mr Li Xinhua CNBM Group Executive General Manager, in the company of Mr Yin Zhisong, Chairman of Sinoma International Engineering Company. “This prospective collaboration requires structured and effective follow-up.…

FG, Financial Experts Differ on Windfall Tax Financial experts have raised concerns about the Federal Government’s proposed windfall tax on banks’ 2023 foreign exchange gains and its potential impact on the economy. They expressed their divergent views during the hybrid fourth edition of the Mid-Year Review of the 2024 Economic Outlook, organised by the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) Centre for Financial Studies in Lagos. Dr ‘Biodun Adedipe, Chief Consultant at B. Adedipe Associates Ltd., while responding to a participant’s question about the policy’s implications, said that the 70 per cent windfall tax imposed by the National Assembly…

Dangote Cement Profit Grows by 6% to N190bn Dangote Cement Plc grew net profit by less than 6.3% in the first half of 2024, the company’s unaudited financial statement reviewed by MarketForces Africa showed. The cement giant’s revenue rose by 85% to N1.76 trillion following price hike in the market, from N950.832 billion in the comparable period in 2023, its unaudited financials revealed. However, a spike in production costs affected the company’s strong line performance in the period, justifying an increase in the cement price with Nigeria’s damaging inflation condition. Details from the cement company’s financials revealed that production costs…

Nigerian US Dollar Bond Yield Hits 10.2% – Trader In the sovereign Eurobonds market, waning sentiment was observed across various maturities, leading to a 21-basis point uptrend in the average yield to 10.20%, Cowry Asset Limited told investors in an emailed note. The Nigerian US dollar bonds have seen selling pressures amidst uncertainties in the local economy. The market gauges the latest policy decision by the government as part of effort to drive economic growth and stabilised price level. The naira has lost significant value in the last one year due to the monetary policy actions seeking to revamp the…

Money Market Rates Dip as Liquidity Pressures Ease Money market rates decline as liquidity level in the financial system improved following flood of inflows from maturing debt instruments and FAAC credits. Total funding has been under pressure in the absence of inflows while debit for primary market auctions have consistently put a strain on funding. Interbank bank rates had crossed 35%, while local lenders raise fund from the apex bank standing lending facility on constant basis to augment their liquidity requirements. With interest rate hike, analysts said the new market dynamic would add additional layer to rate pricing in the…

2024 Olympic Games to Kick off in Paris Under Tight Security France aims to wow the world on Friday with an extravagant Olympic Games opening ceremony through the heart of Paris. It is officially kicking off a Games fraught with security risks at a time of heightened geo-political tensions. Some 45,000 police personnel, 10,000 soldiers and 2,000 private security staff have been mobilised. This will ensure the safety of the parade along the river Seine, its banks and surrounding monuments, in an unprecedented display of security. A procession of barges will take nearly 7,000 athletes along the river past Paris’s…