Author: Marketforces Africa

British Pound Declines to $1.34 Ahead of Job, GDP Data The British pound slipped to $1.341 from a two-week high of $1.345 on August 7 as traders await UK jobs and GDP data that could shape Bank of England policy expectations after last Thursday’s narrow vote to cut rates. The Bank of England lowered the rate by 25 bps to 4%, with four MPC members opposing, and signaled a potential slowdown in its once-a-quarter easing pace due to sticky inflation. Markets are split on a December cut, placing the odds near 76%. Forecasts point to steady unemployment at 4.7%, while…

OMO, T-Bills Yields Ease as Investors Boost Holdings The average yield on Nigerian Treasury and OMO bills eased in the secondary market as investors’ appetite for the naira assets increased on Monday.  Investors raised bets after mixed trading experiences in the second market last week, supported by excess liquidity conditions in the financial system. System liquidity fell to N750.31 billion, down from N1.61 trillion in the previous week. The decline was largely driven by CBN’s liquidity management activities, with a total of N2.12 trillion allotted at its auction on Wednesday. This was reflected in the Overnight Rate (OVN), which rose…

Equity Investors Gain N122bn as Stanbic, Insurance Names Rally Equity investors gained over N122 billion as Stanbic IBTC, BUA Foods and others rallied on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) trading platform. The Nigerian stock market opened the new week on a positive note, as key market performance indicators advanced by 0.13%, though the rally was soft compared to recent past trend. The upbeat was driven by sustained and increased buying interest across stocks in major sectors, especially the Insurance sector, recording a notable growth of 9.74% in today’s trading session. Trading details from the Nigerian Exchange showed that the market index…

Stanbic IBTC, BUA Foods Drive Intraday Rally on NGX Stanbic IBTC and BUA Foods Plc are among the top companies gaining momentum in the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) trading platform during the intraday trading session on Monday. The stock market rallied for four out of five trading sessions last week, spurred by demand for insurance names in anticipation of recapitalisation in the industry. BUA Foods Plc is still taking the lead, with 5% free float in the local bourse, and buying momentum is seen in Tier 2 lender Stanbic IBTC, with a steep price uptick. UBA is the only Tier-1 bank…

Oil Prices Under Pressure Ahead of Trump-Putin Talks Oil prices are under pressure on Monday ahead of US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin meeting later in the week. Trump failed to impose stricter sanctions on Russia despite his deadline for a Russia-Ukraine peace deal passing. The oil price decline was also supported by weak economic data from the US and China, fueling low demand concerns in the world’s largest oil consumers. International benchmark Brent crude traded at $74.03 per barrel, a 1.02% drop from the closing price of $74.79 a barrel in the previous trading session on…

Trump’s Gold Tariffs Push Bitcoin to Near Record Highs Bitcoin is once again within striking distance of its all-time high, driven by a surge of buying as Trump’s tariffs on physical gold push investors toward the world’s largest cryptocurrency. Nigel Green, CEO of global financial advisory giant deVere Group, says the policy shift is acting as a powerful catalyst for digital assets, accelerating Bitcoin’s rise as a mainstream store of value. President Trump’s 39% tariffs on imported gold bars have tightened supply and increased costs, forcing investors to reconsider their reliance on the metal as a hedge. In July alone,…

Transcorp Hotels Sets to Pay Interim Dividend to Shareholders Transcorp Hotels Plc will be paying its shareholders an interim dividend for the first half of 2025 on Friday. The company declared an interim dividend of N0.10 kobo following an impressive earnings performance for the first six months of operations. In July, the company released its earnings performance with a net income of N8.679 billion, up by 31.20% year-on-year from N6.615 billion in H1-2024. MarketForces Africa reported that the hospitality company said an interim dividend of 10 kobo per share will be paid to investors holding the stock as of August…

Naira Has Only One Option in Q3—Forex Analysts In the third quarter of the year, the naira’s exchange rate is expected to rise due to the consistent backing from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for the local currency on the official market. With Nigeria’s gross external reserves of more than $40 billion already, analysts said the CBN will rather open that nation’s FX vault to ensure exchange rate stability is ensured at best. “For anyone to think about speculation will be foolish and excessively risky,” a slew of fx traders sampled by MarketForces Africa Research said, saying the Apex…

Nigerian Bonds Face Sell Pressures, Yield Climbs by 12bps The Nigerian government bonds yield climbed by 12 basis points as investors rotated out from the naira asset in the secondary market ahead of inflation data scheduled for release this week. Inflation is expected to ease further following the rebasing of the consumer price index. With disinflation, improve macro perception and slowdown in bonds supply, analysts project yield would drop further as investors continue to lock in. A declining yield could also trigger capital reversal, as lower returns on portfolios often trigger foreign portfolio investors to exit positions and convert naira…

Lafarge Africa Gears Up for Historic Profit, N1trn Revenue in Sight –CSL Lafarge Africa Plc is expected to deliver historical profit performance in financial year 2025 as analysts anticipate revenue to hit N1 trillion level. The cement company was valued at N2.343 trillion in the equity market on Friday after it lost 2.34% of its market value. Analysts at CSL Stockbrokers Limited have reiterated their buy recommendation on Lafarge Africa in the most recent valuation update. They have set a target price of N199.14 per share, indicating a potential upside of 36.9% from the previous closing price of N145.50 per…