Europe stocks steady as Chinese tech surges –

Shares in Europe remained steady on Monday, as Chinese technology stocks surged, while European long-dated bonds faced heavy pressure, according to Reuters. Europe’s broad STOXX 600 index gained 0.1 per cent, initially boosted by improved manufacturing data, though the positive momentum eased later in the day. In Asia, Chinese tech giant Alibaba saw its Hong Kong shares jump 18.5 per cent following a report that artificial intelligence drove a surge in revenue for its cloud business………(Read More)

NGX suspends three insurance firms for missing audits –

The Nigerian Exchange Limited has suspended trading in the shares of three listed insurance companies for failing to file their audited financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2024. The suspension, effective September 1, 2025, affects Regency Alliance Insurance Plc, International Energy Insurance Plc, and Universal Insurance Plc……….(Read More)

Cost of fund cuts banks’ borrowings by 12% to N69trn –

Banks’ borrowings through the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Standing Lending Facility,  SLF, declined by 12.4 per cent Year-on-Year, YoY, to N69.37 trillion in the first eight months of the year (8m’25) from N79.23 trillion in 8m’24. The CBN has two short term lending windows for banks: the Standing Lending Facility (SLF) and Repo lending. It lends money to banks through the SLF at interest rate of 500 basis points (bps) above the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR), and it also lends money to banks through Repurchase (Repo) arrangement, which involves the purchase of banks’ securities with the agreement to sell back at a specific date and usually for a higher price. …….(Read More)

Naira rises to N1,540/$ in parallel market –

The Naira yesterday appreciated to N1,540 per dollar in the parallel market from N1,545 per dollar last weekend. Similarly, the Naira recorded a new level appreciating to the N1,527.5 per dollar in the Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM).The new level was last recorded on July 3rd this year. Data published by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, showed that the exchange rate for the naira fell to N1,527.5 per dollar from N1,531 per dollar last weekend, indicating N3.5 appreciation for the naira. Consequently, the margin between the parallel market and NFEM rate narrowed to N12.5 per dollar from N14 per dollar last week Friday……..(Read More)

Equities Market Opens September Trading With N362bn Loss –

Trading activities in the domestic equities market yesterday lost N362 billion to start September trading on a negative note, following share price depreciation in Lafarge Africa Plc and 32 others. The All-Share Index (ASI) shed 573.31 points, representing a decline of 0.41 per cent to close at 139,722.19 points. Also, market capitalization depreciated by N362 billion to close at N88.407 trillion. The downturn was driven by price depreciation in large and medium-capitalized stocks, including Lafarge Africa, Eterna, Oando, Zenith Bank, and Ellah Lakes….…(Read More)

Dollar inches up as gold hovers near record high –

The U.S. dollar clawed back some ground in Asian trading on Tuesday following five days of selling, ahead of the return of U.S. traders from the Labor Day holiday. The dollar index was last up 0.2% at 97.873, having touched its lowest since July 28 on Monday. Gold hit an all-time high. “Capital markets across equities and credit are still optimistic on the U.S., which suggests that foreign holders of U.S. assets are not in retreat,” analysts from DBS wrote in a client note……..(Read More)