Author: Marketforces Africa

IMF Cuts Global Economic Growth Forecast to 2.8% The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has slashed its global economic growth forecast for 2025 by 0.5% to 2.8% warning the outlook could deteriorate further as US President Donald Trump’s tariffs spark a global trade war. The IMF released an update to its World Economic Outlook compiled in just 10 days after U.S. President Donald Trump announced universal tariffs on nearly all trading partners and higher rates – currently suspended – on many countries. It cut its forecast for global growth by 0.5 percentage point to 2.8% for 2025, and by 0.3 percentage…

Oil Rallies as Trump Moves to Influence Rates Cut The oil market rallied on Tuesday as U.S. President Donald Trump moved to influence the Federal Reserve’s rates cut decision in a fast and furious manner, with analysts saying this could cast doubt on the independence of the monetary policy. Prices of crude oil was also supported by mounting concerns over potential trade disruptions triggered by ongoing US airstrikes in Yemen in addition to intensified criticism by Trump toward Federal Reserve (Fed) Chairman Jerome Powell. Oil prices climbed in early trade on Tuesday as investors took advantage of the previous day’s…

Federal Govt. Revenue Falls by 31% to N1.94trn – CBN Report Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) revenue underperformed expectations, down by more than 31% to settle at N1.94 trillion at the end of January 2025, according to a Central Bank (CBN) report. The provisional data released by the Apex Bank showed that fiscal operations of the federal government of Nigeria (FGN) resulted in an expansion of fiscal deficit in January compared with the level in the preceding month. Federally collected revenue declined by 31.35 per cent, relative to the level in December 2024 on the back of weak income generated…

Nigerian Treasury Bills Yield Tapers Ahead of N400bn Auction The average yield on Nigerian Treasury bills declined by 15 basis points (bps) to close at 20.90% in the secondary market as investors’ appetite for the naira assets increased ahead of the Central Bank primary market auction on Wednesday. Fixed income market analysts said higher inflation numbers in March seemed to dampen hopes for a dovish monetary policy in the near term.  The latest report on Nigeria’s consumer price index (CPI) shows that in March 2025, the headline inflation rate rose to 24.23% relative to the February 2025 headline inflation rate…

Ecobank Rallies Ahead of First Quarter Earnings Release Ecobank Transnational Incorporation (Ticker: ETI) rallied in the stock market ahead of the group’s first quarter of 2025 earnings release.  Reflecting investors improved sentiment, there was a spike in demand for Ecobank shares in the equities market ahead of Q1 earnings release. The Pan Africa Financial Services Group share price rose to N29.25 in the equities market last week from N26.85 at the beginning of the week. The positive price movement boosted Ecobank’s market value to N536.72 billion, as trading records showed that 584,139 units valued at N16 million exchange hands in…

Nigerian Breweries Soars as Investors React to Q1 Earnings Nigerian Breweries Plc gained 13.1% in the equities market as equities investors reacted positively to the company’s improved earnings performance for the first quarter. The company’s unaudited earnings results showed the brewer bucked negative performance and delivered N44.53 billion in net profit in Q1. The rally pushed Nigerian Breweries share price to N36.2 in the stock market as 15.418 million units valued at N555.571 million exchanged hands in the Nigerian Exchange trading platform. The market value of Nigerian Breweries edged higher to N1.121 trillion, trading slightly behind its 52-week high. The…

Oil prices declined in the global commodity market on Monday following Russia and Ukraine’s brief Easter ceasefire ….

Banks Levy: Shareholders Want Authority to Wind up AMCON Shareholders have kicked against the N436.5 billion paid to the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) by seven banks as banking sector resolution costs in 2024. Some of the shareholders, who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Sunday, said that the levy had negative consequences on shareholders’ funds. Mrs Bisi Bakare, the national coordinator of the Pragmatic Shareholders Association, said that AMCON should have wound down by now. According to her, AMCON saw free opportunity and loopholes and keyed into it – the hard-earned money of…

GCR Affirms Development Bank of Nigeria AAA (NG)/A1+(NG) Ratings GCR Ratings (GCR) has affirmed Development Bank of Nigeria Plc’s (DBN or the Bank) national scale long and short-term issuer ratings of AAA(NG) and A1+(NG) respectively. Also, GCR has affirmed DBN’s Series 1 N23.0 billion Senior Unsecured Bonds national scale issue rating of AAA (NG), maintained stable outlook on the ratings. According to the report, the ratings are underpinned by DBN’s robust capitalisation, good risk profile, stable funding base, adequate liquidity structure and the progressive delivery of its mandate to address financing constraints of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). DBN,…

Oil Prices Edge Higher Amidst U.S Sanctions on Iran Oil prices increased in the global commodity market on Thursday as the U.S. slammed fresh sanctions on Iranian exports amidst an imbalance between crude supply and demand. The market expects China to keep on a growth track after a report showed higher imports ahead of the oil group’s plan to ramp up output in May. In the US, crude oil inventories expanded above expectation, according to the Energy Information Administration. Brent crude above $66 a barrel after the U.S. imposed fresh sanctions aimed at curbing Iranian oil exports as part of…