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Brent Oil Ends Below $100/Barrel First Time In Three Weeks

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Brent oil futures finished under $100 a barrel on Tuesday, the first time it has closed below that key benchmark level since the second day of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine almost three weeks ago.

Crude futures for delivery in May ended at $99.91 a barrel, down 6.5 per cent.

US benchmark West Texas Intermediate dropped 6.4 per cent to $96.44 a barrel.

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The drop came as China placed tens of millions of people under lockdown following the latest surge in Covid-19 cases, raising fresh worries about a hit to oil demand.

Rystad Energy analyst Louise Dickson said severe Chinese restrictions could put 500,000 barrels a day of oil at risk.

“China oil demand risk is real,” Dickson said, adding that a strengthening dollar also pressures crude prices since oil is traded in dollars.

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The Federal Reserve is expected to take the first step in a series of interest rate increases on Wednesday, which could push the dollar higher.

READ ALSO: Rising Oil Price: NNPC Subsidiary Foresees Demand Growth

Rystad cautioned that the drop in oil prices may be “short lived” given the tight state of global crude inventories and ongoing uncertainty surrounding Russian crude.

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Robbie Fraser, an analyst at Schneider Electric, said there were “growing signals” that Russia was struggling to find buyers for crude following condemnation of the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

But high prices also could weigh on consumption, given that in the summer travel season, “gasoline demand tends to be much more responsive to prices, which in many markets already sit at all-time highs,” Fraser said.

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Nigerian Stock Market Hits 10th Consecutive Uptrend As investors Gain N308bn

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The Nigerian Stock Market recorded its 10th consecutive uptrend as investors raked in N308 billion gain on Thursday.

This comes as the Nigerian Exchange Limited, NGX, market capitalisation, which opened at N92.490 trillion, appreciated by 0.33 per cent to close at N92.798 trillion on Thursday.

Also, the All-Share Index added 0.33 per cent, or 485.25 points, to close at 146,204.34, compared with 145,719.09 recorded on Wednesday.

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READ ALSO:Asian Stocks Rise As Trump Postpones Mexico, Canada Tariffs

Increased trading in Eunisell Interlinked, Caverton Offshore Support Group, Sunu Assurances, Industrial and Medical Gases, Mecure, and 27 other advancing stocks boosted market performance on Thursday.

To this end, the market breadth also closed positive with 32 gainers and 21 losers.

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Further analysis showed that Eunisell Interlinked and Caverton Offshore Support Group led the gainers’ chart by 10 per cent each, closing at N44 and N6.93 per share, respectively, while FTN Cocoa Processors led the losers’ table by 6.67 per cent, closing at N5.60 per share.

READ ALSO:UK Stock Markets Plunge In Biggest Daily Fall Amid Trump Tariff

Market activity showed a decline in the number of deals and volume traded but an improvement in trade value.

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Accordingly, a total of 346.99 million shares worth N27.43 billion were traded in 24,691 deals, compared with 525.72 million shares worth N13.61 billion exchanged in 25,597 deals on Wednesday.

Fidelity Bank topped the activity chart with 42.01 million shares valued at N861.54 million.

According to DAILY POST, NGX has continued its bullish run from last month’s end to date.

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CBN Sets POS Maximum Transactions In Fresh Guidelines

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The Central Bank of Nigeria has rolled out fresh guidelines for agent banking, known as Point of Sales, across the country.

The apex also in the guidelines pegged daily POS transactions at N1.2 million per agent and N100,000 per individual.

CBN disclosed this in a circular signed by its Director of the Payments System Management Department, Musa Jimoh.

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The guidelines further mandate all financial institutions to publish the list of all their POS agents on their website and to display it in their branches.

READ ALSO:CBN Establishes New Unit To Tackle Financial Crime

CBN noted that the guidelines would take effect from April 1, 2026.

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“The Guidelines aim to establish minimum standards for operating agent banking in Nigeria, enhancing agent banking to provide financial services and promoting financial inclusion, encouraging responsible market conduct and improving service quality in agent banking operations.

“This circular takes effect from the date of release, while the implementation of agent location and agent exclusivity shall be in effect from April 1, 2026.

“POS agents are restricted to a maximum of N1.2 million per day. Individual customers are limited to N100,000 in daily transactions.

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“These limits are intended to curb misuse, enhance financial integrity, and protect consumers within the agent banking framework,” it stated.

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Naira Records First Appreciation Against US Dollar At Official Market

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The Naira recorded appreciation on Wednesday against the United States dollar at the official market, the first time in three days this week.

The Central Bank of Nigeria’s exchange rate data showed that the Naira strengthened to N 1,470.62 per dollar on Wednesday, up from N1,471.09 traded on Tuesday.

This means that the country’s currency firmed up slightly by N0.47 against the dollar on a day-to-day basis.

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READ ALSO:Naira Appreciates Massively Against US Dollar In The Black Market, Highest In 15 Months

Monday and Tuesday, the Naira recorded negative sentiment at the official foreign exchange market.

However, at the black market, the Naira remained unchanged at N1,500 per dollar on Wednesday, the same rate exchanged on Tuesday.

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The apex bank data indicated that the country’s external reserves, a determinant of the exchange rates, stood at $42.57 billion as of October 7, 2025.

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