Author: Olu Anisere

UK-Eurozone Inflation Gap to Narrow in 2026 – Fitch Fitch Ratings expects UK headline inflation to converge towards eurozone levels, ending the unusual divergence that has prevailed between the two this year. The divergence between UK and eurozone headline inflation rates in 2025 helps to explain the differing monetary policy stances of the Bank of England (BOE) and ECB, Fitch said. But Fitch Ratings forecasts UK headline inflation will fall in the coming months towards eurozone levels and also the BOE’s target, paving the way for further UK interest rate cuts The return of headline and core inflation towards target…

Oil Prices Decline as US, Russia Mull Diplomatic Talks Oil prices declined in the global commodity market on Monday as US sanctions drew out Russia to possible peace talks over war in Ukraine.  The market anticipate diplomatic contacts between the US and Russia over a potential resolution to the Ukraine crisis Last week, Brent settled almost 1.2% higher as the Ukrainian attack on the Russian port of Novorossiysk stoked supply pressures.  This led to a temporary suspension of oil exports from the port, which handles approximately 2.2 million barrels of oil per day, including Kazakhstan crude from the Caspian Pipeline…

Short-Term External Liabilities: Nigeria’s Usable FX Reserves Grow Nigeria’s usable external reserves increased as the nation’s gross balance climbed to $43.535 billion, as per the Central Bank (CBN)’s latest update. The amount is the highest on record in six years, supported by accretion from foreign inflows, remittances and FX receipts from hydrocarbon sales. In its latest rating note, S&P data highlighted that Nigeria’s usable external reserves surged, and it now covers the country’s current account payment (CAP) for about five months, up from 3.4 months in 2024. This suggests the nation can sufficiently cover its short-term external liabilities without recourse…

Dangote, BUA Drag Total Value of Cement Stocks Down by N1.47trn Due to price depreciations posted by Dangote and BUA Cement, trading data from the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) indicated that the total market value of cement firms in the local bourse declined by over N1.47 trillion week on week, primarily as a result of selling pressures on the industrial index. The two leading cement companies recorded a significant valuation slump totalling N1.520 trillion week on week on the Nigerian Exchange, dwarfing the gain seen from Lafarge Africa’s positive price movement. Last week, the stock fluctuated as Nigeria’s new capital gains…

Champion Breweries Rises by 11.5% Amidst Free Float Concern With 83% of Champion Breweries’ outstanding shares owned by two shareholders on the Nigerian Exchange, the market value of the company surged by 11.5% week on week, spurred by a fresh rally. The brewer’s share price closed at N14.5 as investors took positions after its third quarter of 2025 bumper earnings harvest.  Its trading data from the Nigerian Exchange platform showed that the company share price, which opened at N13 ended the week at N14.5, up by 11.5%. Transaction volumes were relatively strong. Champion Breweries’ share price settled at N14.50 on…

Ethereum Price Climbs as Next Rally Begins to Form Crypto investors staked new bets on Ethereum, pushing its market price higher by more than 2% in post selloffs trading activities across exchanges on Sunday. With top digital assets showing positive signs, sell pressure has been to cool off, with the global market value of all cryptocurrencies increasing by about 1% to $3.26 trillion. Over 24 hours of trading, Ethereum (ETH) has climbed by 2.35% to $3,216.02, diverging from its price depreciation of -5.93% and 30 days (-13.3%) downtrend. The price uptick was driven by strategic whale accumulation amid market volatility,…

S&P Placed Senegal on CreditWatch Developing, Sliced Rating to CCC+ With over 40% in debt to gross domestic product (GDP), S&P Global has lowered its long-term foreign currency sovereign credit ratings on Senegal to ‘CCC+’ from ‘B-‘ and affirmed its ‘B-‘ local currency sovereign credit rating. The global rating agency said it lowered short-term foreign currency rating on Senegal to ‘C’ and affirmed short-term local currency rating at ‘B’. “We placed the ratings on CreditWatch developing”, S&P said, signalling that IT could lower ratings on Senegal if the government is unable to refinance its upcoming commercial maturities on time and…

PDP Expels Wike, Fayose, Anyanwu, Others for Anti-Party Activities PDP has expelled the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, alongside Ayodele Fayose, Samuel Anyanwu and eight others for anti-party activities. The PDP announced their expulsion during its 2025 National Convention in Ibadan on Saturday. Others expelled are Kamaldeen Ajibade (SAN), Austin Iwachukwu, Umar Bature, Muhammad AbduRahman, Mao Ohuabunwa, Abraham Ama, George Turnan, and Dan Obi. Chief Bode George moved the motion for their expulsion, which was unanimously supported by party members present at the convention. George said that PDP members were bound by and must adhere to…

Ghana Upgraded on Improving Fiscal, BoP Performance – S&P S&P Global Ratings raised its long- and short-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings on Ghana to ‘B-/B’ from ‘CCC+/C’. According to the rating note, the outlook is stable. Ratings analysts also revised up S&P transfer and convertibility assessment on Ghana to ‘B-‘ from ‘CCC+’. S&P said the stable outlook balances the potential for stronger balance-of-payments (BoP) performance and improvements in Ghana’s fiscal outcomes as a result of ongoing expenditure reforms against still-high debt-service costs, reform implementation risks, and Ghana’s sensitivity to terms of trade, such as gold and cocoa…

BTCUSD Sinks Below $96K as Investors Unwind Positions Bitcoin price (BTCUSD) declined below $96 as sell-offs heated up, dragging the global market cap down to $3.25 trillion, down by about 1% on the day.  The sell-offs have been fast and furious. BTC had reached $126K last month before sentiment turned negative. Trading data obtained showed that Bitcoin fell 1.6% over the past 24 hours, underperforming the broader crypto market as investors closed positions The drop reflects leveraged position unwinding, cautious derivatives positioning, and breakdown below key technical levels – though strong institutional bids near $90K-$95K suggest contained downside The world’s…