Author: Marketforces Africa

Naira Registers Slight Gain as CBN Turns Off FX Tap Briefly The naira held strong against the US dollar in the local currency markets, where there have been floods of FX flows from the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) aggressive interventions.  The direct FX sales to authorised dealer banks and OMO bills offering that allow foreign investors’ participation have been driving liquidity in the currency market. Last data revealed that the local currency traded at N1,500 per greenback at the official window and gained 93 kobo week on week while the CBN turned off FX tap for five days in…

Nigerian Exchange Lost N421bn as Investors Rebalance Portfolios The Nigerian Exchange, NGX, lost more than N421 billion of its opening market cap as investors sought to rebalance their portfolios amidst earnings releases and downbeat sentiments. The equities market closed the week on a bearish note as sustained sell pressure pushed the Nigerian Exchange All-Share Index (ASI) down by 0.62% week-on-week to 107,821.39 points. This marked a significant breakdown below the 108,000 psychological level, reflecting weak market internals and subdued trading volumes, Cowry Asset Limited said in a note. The investment firm explained that the downturn came amid the ongoing corporate…

Oando Plc. market value cracked further, albeit, slightly as the indigenous energy company struggle to keep the momentum.

Samsung Introduces New Galaxy A Series with AI for Everyone Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. today unveiled Galaxy A56 5G, Galaxy A36 5G and Galaxy A26 5G, the latest Galaxy A series smartphones. For the first time, the Galaxy A series is integrating Awesome Intelligence—including Galaxy’s fan-favourite AI-powered features to reimagine creativity — while bringing enhanced durability and longevity, as well as robust security and privacy protections to provide a safe and long-lasting mobile experience for regular as well as business customers. “The new Galaxy A series marks an important step in our mission of AI for all, by opening Galaxy’s…

Gold Retreats as Dollar Strength Weighs, Investors Reposition Gold continues to decline, heading towards its lowest levels in nearly 20 days, reaching $2,860 per ounce in spot trading. Gold’s losses coincided with a recovery in the dollar, supported by escalating trade tensions between the United States on the one hand, and China, Canada and Mexico on the other hand. The sharp losses in the US stock market yesterday may also played a role in forcing traders to liquidate their positions in other assets to cover their positions. We also witnessed that the momentum of money flowing into physical gold funds…

Naira Closed at N1,500 per US dollar, FX Spread Falls The naira settled at N1500.15 per US dollar in the official market amidst sustained FX intervention.  In the parallel market, the exchange rate fell by 33 bps, settling at N1505, reducing FX gap to N5 per greenback. The improved dollar liquidity helped alleviate pressure on FX demand. Market activity remained strong, with trades executed within the $/₦1,495.00 to $/₦1,505.00 range. Oil prices declined, heading for their first monthly loss since November, as markets reacted to a tense Oval Office exchange between the U.S. and Ukrainian presidents, upcoming U.S. tariffs, and…

Banks Implement New ATM Transactions Charges Following regulatory review, Nigerian Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) have begun the implementation of new fees for transactions via automatic teller machines (ATMs) effective from March 1, 2025. The new fees have now faced out previous ATM administration charges as part of efforts to reduce commercial banks infrastructure maintenance burden. In line with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) directive, banks told customers in a series of emails that there will be no fee for ATM withdrawals with a bank where customers have deposits. However, withdrawals from other banking institutions where customer has no deposit…

Dangote Cement Grows Profit by 10%, Declares N30 Dividend Dangote Cement Plc grew profit by 10.46% year on year to N503.247 billion in 2024, the group said in its audited financial statement submitted on the Nigerian Exchange. The improved profitability was supported by double-digit revenue growth amidst price hikes and volume surges. Details from the financial report revealed that Dangote Cement revenue grew by 62% to N3.580 trillion in 2024 from N2.208 trillion in 2023. Reflecting inflation impacted business activities, production costs of sales also climbed by 63.51% to N1.645 trillion in 2024, from N1.006 trillion a year ago.  A…

NGX Group Pretax Profit Spikes by 157% in 2024 The Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX Group) says it recorded a profit before tax of N13.6 billion, marking 157.3 percent year-on-year growth. The group said this in its 2024 audited financial results sent to the Exchange as corporate disclosure and signed by the Acting Company Secretary, NGX, Mr Izuchukwu Akpa, on Saturday in Lagos. Akpa said that the performance was driven by robust revenue expansion, strategic cost optimisation, and increased market participation, reflecting the group’s resilience and financial strength. According to him, the group’s gross earnings surged by 103.2 percent to N24.0…

Madagascar Unlocks $101 million IMF Loan Madagascar has unlocked $101 million loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) after the conclusion of Article IV consultation yesterday. In a statement, IMF said its Executive Board also completed the First Reviews under the 36-month Extended Credit Facility (ECF) arrangement and under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF) arrangement. Recall that the ECF and RSF arrangements were approved by the IMF Executive Board in June 2024. The completion of the reviews allows for the immediate disbursement of SDR 36.7 million or about US$48 million under the ECF arrangement and of SDR 40.7 million…