Author: Marketforces Africa

DMO to Open N100bn Bonds for Subscription, Rates Outlook Mixed The Debt Management Office (DMO) has revealed a plan to raise N100 billion at its monthly primary market auction on June 24, according to a circular released, with June 23 set as the settlement date. Hence, trading activities in the secondary market heated up with bullish sentiments on the 2033 bonds, following the release of the June offer circular. The debt office has continued to tighten its fist on spot rates amidst efforts to reduce borrowing costs. With the softening inflation rate, analysts said they don’t expect rates to jerk…

Naira Skids as FX Demand Exceeds Dollar Volume The naira skidded off the bull track in the Nigerian foreign exchange market (NFEM) as demand exceeded the US dollar volume supplied on Wednesday. According to data obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) daily forex platform, the naira fell to N1549.20 on Wednesday from N1345.26, which was quoted as the NFEM rate the previous day. The spot rate movement suggests the exchange rate worsened on the day, reflecting higher demand and lower US dollar liquidity. The external reserves has fallen below the $38 billion mark as the apex bank maintained…

Gambia Unlocks Access to $80.5 Million Loans from IMF Gambia has unlocked access to additional loans totaling $80.5 million from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), according to an official statement released by the multilateral lender following a review. The IMF Executive Board approved a new 18-month arrangement under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF) for The Gambia for an amount equivalent to about US$63.55 million to help the authorities improve macroeconomic resilience and build policy buffers against climate shocks. The Board also completed the third review under the existing Extended Credit Facility (ECF) arrangement, enabling immediate disbursement of about US$16.95…

US Dollar Drops against Trading Majors in FX Markets The US dollar fell against its major trading partners early Wednesday, except for a gain versus the Canadian dollar, ahead of a busy morning of data releases and the Federal Open Market Committee’s statement at the conclusion of its two-day interest rate policy setting meeting in the afternoon. Housing starts data for April and weekly jobless claims data, released a day early due to the US Juneteenth holiday Thursday, are due to be published. Weekly petroleum stocks inventory data are set to be released at 10:30 am ET and weekly natural…

British Pound Strengthens Ahead of BoE Rate Decision The British pound, or the sterling, edged closer to $1.35, remaining near its highest levels since 2022, continuing to benefit from broad-based US dollar weakness. Inflation and economic concerns are expected to affect the Bank of England’s decision on rates on Thursday. FX traders said Sterling’s gain was noted to be supported by the latest UK inflation data, which showed that price pressures remain elevated. GBPUSD rose to 1.3449 from 1.3428 at the Tuesday US close but was well below a level of 1.3566 at the same time Tuesday morning. UK consumer prices…

Zenith Bank Drops Hints on Dividend, Plans to Exit CBN Forbearance Zenith Bank Plc has assured shareholders and the investing public that the financial services company will exit forbearance granted by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in the first half of the year. In a statement, the tier-1 lender responded to the CBN directives, expressing optimism about paying dividends to its shareholders in the current financial year. The company secretary, Michael Out, pointed out that it had successfully raised and surpassed the new regulatory capital requirement of N500 billion. It explained, “We refer to the recent circular issued by…

Oil Prices Decline on Ceasefire Hopes in Middle East Oil prices declined on Wednesday as diplomatic momentum toward a ceasefire in the Middle East while the market weighed uncertainties in the US Federal Reserve’s rate policy strategies. There are also concerns about the potential effects of Washington’s protectionist trade policies on the global economy, which weigh on market sentiment. International benchmark Brent crude decreased by around 1.2%, trading at $74.80 per barrel, down from $75.70 at the previous session’s close. Similarly, the US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) fell by about 1.3%, settling at $72.64 per barrel, compared to $73.60…

MTN, Airtel, Others to Charge Subscribers for USSD from June 18 Telecom subscribers in Nigeria will now be charged directly by their mobile network operators, MTN Nigeria, Airtel, Glo and 9Mobile, for Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) services, starting Wednesday, June 18, 2025. This was made known in a statement signed by Mr Gbenga Adebayo, the Chairman, Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), and the Publicity Secretary, Mr Damian Udeh. According to Adebayo, the change is in line with the Nigerian Communications Commission’s (NCC) determination of USSD pricing and services, developed in collaboration with the Central Bank of…

Amazon CEO says AI to Reduce Number of Workers Needed Amazon’s management on Wednesday said that it expects that artificial intelligence (AI) software will reduce the number of office workers at the world’s largest online retailer. “We will need fewer people doing some of the jobs that are being done today, and more people doing other types of jobs,” Amazon chief executive Andy Jassy wrote in an email to employees. He said it is difficult to predict how the overall workforce will evolve, but in the next few years, it is expected that AI efficiency gains will lead to fewer…

Oando Rallies Turn to Head Fake, Loses 15.6% in 2 Days Indigenous energy company Oando Plc lost its steam in the equities market; its share price dropped twice in the last two trading sessions on the Nigerian Exchange trading platform after a series of uptrends last week, which suggested that the oil-linked stock had escaped the bear trap. Oando Plc’s price has declined by about 15.6% in two consecutive trading sessions. This has raised concerns about whether its past week’s positive price movements were a head fake. According to data from the Nigerian Exchange, Oando Plc’s share price fell sharply,…