Author: Marketforces Africa

LCCI, CFTC Partner for 137th Canton Fair The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has partnered with the China Foreign Trade Centre (CFTC) for the 137th Canton Fair to strengthen trade relations and explore new markets. LCCI President, Mr Gabriel Idahosa, announced this during a news conference on Monday in Lagos. He stated that the fair, scheduled from April 15 to May 4 in Guangzhou, China, would connect Nigerian businesses, manufacturers, and producers with their Chinese counterparts. Idahosa expressed confidence that the partnership would create new market opportunities and foster stronger economic ties. President of the Manufacturers Association of…

Nigeria Turns Down Bids over Excess Demand for Local Bonds The Debt Management Office, DMO, recorded excess demand for Federal Government of Nigerian (FGN) bonds at its monthly primary market auction on Monday. Nigeria’s debt agency conducted a primary market auction on Monday where it offered N350 billion worth of local bonds to investors. The amount DMO sought to raise from 5-year and 7-year bonds were N200 billion and N150 billion following announcement of cancellation of N100 billion worth of 10-Year bonds. The auction results revealed that investors staked more than N1.632 trillion on the amount offer amidst increasing appetite…

Crude Oil Prices Increase as U.S Sanctions Iran Crude oil prices increase as U.S. sanctions on Iran raise supply risks in the global commodities market ahead of the Federal Reserve’s potential rate cut. Uncertainties in the commodity market remain elevated over US President Donald Trump’s trade policies, though plans to resume Iraqi oil exports and hopes for Russia-Ukraine peace capped price increases. Brent crude increased by 1.7%, trading at $74.60 per barrel, up from $73.32 at the close of the previous session. The US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) increased by 0.4%, reaching $71 per barrel, compared to its prior…

Fitch Affirms Ecobank Transnational Inc. at ‘B-‘ with Stable Outlook Fitch Ratings has affirmed Ecobank Transnational Incorporated’s (ETI) Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at ‘B-‘ with a stable outlook. Ecobank issuer ratings are driven by its standalone creditworthiness, as expressed by its viability rating of ‘b-‘, Fitch said in its rating note released on Monday. As a bank holding company, ETI’s viability rating is notched down once from the group VR of ‘b’ due to very high common equity double leverage. The group viability takes into consideration a leading pan-African franchise, strong revenue and geographical diversification, acceptable asset quality, healthy…

The US dollar fell against its major trading partners, except for a gain versus the yen ahead of economic data. A slew of soft data and renewed expectations that US President Donald Trump’s tariffs will only be a short-lived transactional measure hurt the dollar last week, ING said in a note.

Nigerian Exchange Shrinks as Equities Investors Lose N231bn The Nigerian Exchange, NGX, market capitalisation shrank by about N231 billion on Monday as sell side actors exited position in some named stocks. The domestic market opened the week on a bearish note with moderating year to date return while key market performance indicators fell by 0.34%. Stockbrokers saw investors taking profit across sectorial indices, driven by huge selloffs in banking tickers, and others. The Nigerian Exchange All-Share Index decreased by 370.43 basis points today to close at 108,126.97. However, the market activities improved as the total volume and total value traded…

Banking Stocks See Intense Sell Heat on NGX The Nigerian Exchange, NGX, All share index dipped during the early trading session due to sell pressures facing banking names. Investors are currently exiting positions in some financial stocks in the market as sentiment wanes. In their separate stock market recommendation, Afrinvest Securities Limited and Atlass Portfolios Limited mood appeared to have switched to predominantly bearish. These investment firms are guiding investors to trim their holdings in banking stocks, oil and gas index, the consumer goods and industrial names. Stockbrokers said buy orders have been limited as investors watch and see development…

Stock recommendation: With expectation of negative upside potential, Atlass Portfolios Limited has advised investors to exit positions in banking, oil and gas, Agriculture among others.

TAJBank Wins Islamic Bank Award Nigeria’s fastest growing non-interest banking services provider, TAJBank Limited, has consolidated its frontline position by winning an award at the just concluded Islamic Finance News (IFN) Awards in Dubai. According to a statement by its Managing Director, Hamid Joda, the bank won the “Best Islamic Bank in Nigeria” award through a global survey conducted by the IFN. Joda attributed the bank’s global recognition to the commitment of the board, management and members of staff to best industry standards in products and services. “We want to thank IFN for the very credible poll that indicated that…

Afrinvest Advises Investors to Reduce Airtel, MTNN Stocks Afrinvest Securities Limited foresaw negative upside potential in Airtel Africa, and MTN Nigeria Plc, according to its stock recommendation list release on Monday. The investment securities firm advised investors to reduce interest in the two telecom giants listed on the Nigerian Exchange, NGX as its stockbrokers expect negative Data from the Nigerian Exchange, NGX, showed that MTN Nigeria closed at N264.2 per share on Friday, while Airtel Africa remained unchanged at N2156.90 in the local bourse. In the update release, Afrinvest reduced target price for MTN Nigeria from N338.20 to N254.87, which…