Author: Marketforces Africa

Overweight Stocks Drive N1.7trn Equities Portfolio Growth Buying interest companies’ stocks with positive outlook or overweight drove N1.71 trillion equities portfolio growth in the Nigerian Exchange (NGX), reducing the impacts of sell-side actors’ activities. The Nigerian Exchange key performance indicators were upswing as value hunters positioned themselves in underpriced stocks seen across sectoral indexes. Investor sentiment remained upbeat, as the benchmark All-Share Index (ASI) appreciated by 2.49% week-on-week, closing at 111,742.01 points. The market index broke through the psychological barrier of 112,000 points at midweek, reaching an all-time high of 112,237.26 points before slight profit-taking pulled it back slightly. The…

CBN Defends Naira, Banks Get $120m as External Reserves Drop Sustaining its intervention in the foreign exchange market, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) sold $120 million to authorised dealer banks in two tranches last week as part of an effort to defend the local currency, the naira, amidst sliding external reserves. The monetary authority conducted two foreign exchange intervention sales last week, offering a total of $120 million to authorised dealer banks. Bids cleared between ₦1,581.92 and ₦1,593 for the two FX offered to banks to drive liquidity. In its shows of strength, the local currency appreciated against the…

Federal Govt. to Deploy 7m Smart Meters—Verheijen The federal government says it will deploy seven million smart meters, through its Presidential Metering Initiative, to end estimated billing and revenue leakages. Mrs Olu Verheijen, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Energy, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Sunday. Verheijen,who was speaking on the second year anniversary of the Tinubu’s administration, said the smart meters would end collection losses for most of the customers who are on-grid and unmetered. She said the meter deployment is one of the initiatives of the administration…

Moody’s Upgrades Nigeria’s Ratings, Changes Outlook to Stable Moody’s Ratings has upgraded the Government of Nigeria’s long-term foreign currency and local currency issuer ratings to B3 from Caa1 and changed the outlook to stable from positive. In a rating note released, Moody’s analysts said they have also upgraded Nigeria’s foreign currency senior unsecured debt ratings to B3 and the foreign currency senior unsecured MTN program rating to (P)B3 from Caa1 and (P)Caa1, respectively. According to the rating note, the upgrade reflects significant improvements in Nigeria’s external and fiscal positions, noting that a more flexible exchange rate has greatly bolstered external…

Crude Oil Prices End the Week Negative Oil prices are on track for a second consecutive weekly decline amid expectations that the eight-member OPEC+ group will move forward with further production hikes at their meeting on Saturday. The international benchmark Brent crude was trading at $62.54 per barrel on Friday, marking a fall of around 2.96% from last week’s closing price of $64.45. Similarly, the American benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) traded at $60.57 per barrel, down approximately 1.62% from last Friday’s close of $61.57. Prices started the week on a positive note with US President Donald Trump’s decision to…

Equities Investors Lost N48bn in Last Moment Selloffs Equities investors trading highs and lows on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) trading platform lost about N48 billion on Friday due to sell pressures seen across sectoral indexes. The local bourse closed the week on a bearish note, as key performance indicators dipped by 0.07 per cent. Specifically, the market capitalisation declined by N48 billion, or 0.07 per cent, to N70.462 trillion from N70.510 trillion recorded on Thursday. The All-Share Index also dropped by 0.07 per cent or 76.07 points to close at 111,742.01, down from 111,818.08 posted on Thursday. The decline was…

Access Bank Partners Gate Foundation to Empower 50,000 Women Access Bank has partnered with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Microsave Consulting Global Consulting Pte Ltd. to improve financial services for low-income women in rural communities across the country. This initiative aims to empower women economically by providing them with access to financial resources, education, and opportunities. Mr Robert Giles, Senior Retail Advisor in Access Bank, on Thursday, said that the initiative would focus on scaling female agent networks in Nigeria According to Giles, this is to expand successful programmes and increase the number and quality of female Cash-In, Cash-Out…

Nigeria Boosts Trust Fund with $500 Million—Edun Nigeria has reaffirmed its commitment to Africa’s economic development with a fresh 500 million dollars contribution to the Nigeria Trust Fund (NTF). Nigeria’s Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun, made the announcement at the official signing of the agreement at the African Development Bank (AfDB) Annual Meetings 2025 at Abidjan on Thursday. Edun said the gesture was a strong signal of Nigeria’s leadership in supporting low-income African countries. He also used the opportunity to pay tribute to the outgoing AfDB President, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, whom he praised…

Funding Rates Mixed on N1.6T Excess Liquidity in Financial System Excess liquidity in the banking system kept funding rates in check even with huge outflows relating to the settlement of the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) Sukuk issuance. Based on market indicators, money market rates closed in mixed directions with N1.6 trillion in excess liquidity. The financial system liquidity remained elevated, supported by sustained flows into the Standing Deposit Facility (SDF) window, according to a market report. In a note, CardinalStone Partners Limited reported that net system liquidity closed at a surplus of N1.6 trillion despite a N300 billion settlement…

Naira Rebounds in Absence of Dollar Shortage in FX Market At the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market, the naira reclaimed value by 0.29% to close at ₦1,586.15 per US dollar, from ₦1,590, according to FX data update from the Central Bank. Whereas in the parallel market, the naira closed at ₦1,615 per dollar amidst expectations that the Apex Bank will stop selling dollars to bureau de change at the official rate from May 2025. The rally was supported by an improved dollar liquidity driven in part by the Central Bank’s intervention. The USD/NGN pair traded within a narrow band of N1,584.50…