Sell off continues as investors take N8.69 bn from Nigeria’s stock market
The sell-off continued as investors direct the domestic bourse to the bear market following an unimpressive performance from Okomuoil and FBNH. Okomuoil and FBNH both sustained losses of N21.5, or 10 percent, and 55 kobo, or 4.61 percent, respectively.
Following the two companies’ losses, the all-share index dropped further from its previous day’s loss of 1.45 percent, or 781.86 basis points, to sink deeper into the red zone by 0.03 percent, or 16.13 basis points, to close at 52,974.15 basis points. The year-to-date trade data for the first day of the month of June stayed positive with a close of +24.1 percent.
However, the equity market trading lost N8.69 billion as the market capitalisation dropped further from its previous day’s position of N28,567.59 trillion to close at N28,558.90 trillion.h
The decline in the volume and value of shares sold continued yesterday as the equity market lost 7.20 percent, or more than 22 million units of shares valued at over N123 million.
Finally, the market sentiment was negative as 19 companies’ stocks lost relative to 13 gainers. Eterna which opened trading at N6.77 gained 67 kobo or 9.44 percent to close at N7.44 to lead the gainers’ chart, followed closely by FTNCOCOA which gained 3 kobo or 9.38 percent to close at 0.35 kobo was another notable mention.
Nigeria set to host World Tourism Conference – President Buhari
On Wednesday, June 1, 2022, in Madrid, Spain, President Muhammadu Buhari expressed his readiness for the country to host the first-ever Global Conference on Tourism, Culture, and the Creative Industry in November this year.
The president gave his reassurances during his recent visit to the headquarters of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in the Spanish capital. The president, who is on a state visit to Spain, described the granting of the hosting rights for the inaugural meeting as further proof of a mutually beneficial relationship between the country and the agency.
He assured the organisers that this event would not only provide an excellent opportunity to showcase their tourism potential, but would also demonstrate how resilient their citizens are in the face of negative publicity in the western media.
“It will also serve as an opportunity to extend our warm hospitality to the world and introduce the country’s leisure and business sectors to potential investors.” We have not-so-well-known wonders to reveal! ”
President Buhari assured participants from across the world of “a safe and secure environment as well as excellent facilities,” adding, “we look forward to welcoming all participants.”
The President reminded all about how useful the country has been to the organization since it joined in 1975, after which the country has held the Chairmanship position of the Commission for Africa between 2005 and 2007.
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Fuel prices skyrockets across Africa on shortage of oil refineries – CITAC
According to CITAC, fuel prices across the African continent skyrocketed following a shortage of oil refineries.
CITAC, which is a downstream African energy specialist, said that the shortage of refineries added to the crisis in eastern Europe caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine had left countries within the continent “dangerously short of fuel supplies, disrupting airlines and causing queues at filling stations.”
The rise in fuel prices has not only been the most troubling challenge facing the continent, but the painful adjustment in food prices has left governments and aid agencies with budgets reduced painfully.
Most of the refineries on the continent are either working at less than their current capacity or completely shut down. Refineries in Cameroon, Ghana, and Senegal are closed, as are four in South Africa. Africa’s biggest oil producer, Nigeria, pumps over 1.3 million barrels a day, but the two privately-owned plants still running there can only process 1% of that, “CITAC stated.
Meanwhile, private investment in the troubled sector got a boost when the African Export-Import Bank and the African Petroleum Producers’ Organization signed a deal in May to create a multi-billion-dollar “energy bank” to create more refineries.
U.S. plans to sell armed drones to Ukraine in coming days – sources
The Ukrainian government is set to receive, through a sale from the US, four MQ-1C Gray Eagle drones that can be armed with hellfire missiles for battlefield use against Russia.
Before now, Ukraine has been using smaller, shorter-range unmanned aerial systems against Russian forces, which hasn’t gone so well. It costs them valuable military personnel and territories, and it is the belief of those with an invested interest that upgrading the weaponry of the Ukrainian army will help change the direction of the war.
Some of the older, shorter-range unmanned aerial systems used are the AeroVironment (AVAV.O) RQ-20 Puma AE and the Turkish Bayraktar-TB2.
However, the Gray Eagle is not a sign of hope for the Ukrainian army, but rather of their ability to take the initiative in the arms race against Putin. The grey eagle, as it is known, can fly for up to 30 or more hours depending on its mission and can also gather a huge amount of data.
There are, however, fears that the US Congress might block the sale, according to some sources that spoke with Reuters. Their sources claim that there is a risk of a last-minute policy reversal.
US stocks end volatile session lower
All three major US stock markets kicked off the month of June trading on a rather volatile note following the persistent volatility that forced a negative closure on the last day of the previous month. Following fears of the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate tightening, the market responded with a 0.5 percent dip in share value.
According to tradingeconomics, “this month of June marks the start of the Fed’s plan to reduce its balance sheet, while markets are pricing in a 50 basis point interest rate hike later this month.”
Meanwhile, increased consumer spending helped boost manufacturing data as the number of new jobs to help drive this growth rose sharply. The only concern is the new interest rate that is likely to discourage borrowing as the cost of borrowing will increase as a result.
