*Financial markets.
06 January 2017, Sweetcrude, Houston — Local and international financial market products and services update.
NIGERIA: Nigeria has resumed payments of cash stipends to former militants agreed under a 2009 amnesty in the country’s Niger Delta oil hub, a government official said on Thursday. The government has been holding talks with militants to end attacks on crude pipelines which reduced Nigeria’s output by 700,000 barrels a day for several months last year. Authorities had originally cut the budget for cash payments to militants to end corruption but later resumed payments to stop pipeline attacks crippling vital oil revenues. Crude sales make up about 70% of government revenue and the attacks have deepened an economic crisis brought on by low global oil prices.
FX: Trading pattern remains unchanged within the range of $/NGN 304.50 – 305.50. CB sold an estimated amount of 1.5m into the market. Offers for the greenback in the parallel market were reported unchanged for the sixth day at $/NGN 490.00.
FIXED INCOME: Bids on the Jan 2026 and March 2036 went higher, crossing the psychological 16.50% level. We still expect sentiments to be bearish today for bonds. Activity in the bill market remained skewed to the short dates (Jan, Feb and Mar bills). We expect an OMO auction today as money market is long N115bn.
U.S: US Treasury prices rose sharply across the curve pushing yields lower as the market digested a batch of economic reports ahead of the release of December non-farm payrolls today. The weak dollar and lower yields helped push gold to its highest point for a month. Wall Street took a breather after rallying sharply over the first two trading days of the year. By midday in New York the S&P 500 equity index was down 0.4% at 2,262, after ending the previous day’s session within a whisker of its record close. The 20,000 level for the Dow Jones Industrial Average remained elusive as the indicator fell 0.5% to 19,833.
MEXICO: A former cabinet secretary who was forced to resign after arranging Donald Trump’s visit to Mexico has been unexpectedly named foreign minister as the country prepares for a potentially rocky relationship with the incoming US president. President Enrique Peña Nieto named ex-finance minister Luis Videgaray as foreign relations minister on Wednesday, apparently hoping that his most trusted adviser can court close relations with senior members of the Trump administration. Analysts in Mexico said they were not surprised by the return to prominence of Videgaray, who managed Peña Nieto’s presidential election campaign and served as finance minister, overseeing the approval and implementation of suite of structural reforms which won applause from international investors.
COMMODITIES: Oil prices were steady on Friday as the start of supply cuts by Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi supported the market, but doubts that all producers will implement output reductions agreed in a landmark deal last year kept markets from rising further. Brent crude futures, the benchmark for international oil prices, were trading at $56.85 per barrel at 0238 GMT, down 4 cents from their close the previous day. In the United States, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $53.74 a barrel, two cents below their last settlement.
Macro Economic Indicators
Inflation rate (Y-o-Y) for November 2016, 18.48%
Monetary Policy Rate current 14.00%
FX Reserves (Bn $) as at Jan 04,2017, 26.155
Money Market Highlights
NIBOR (%)
O/N 9.6667
30 Day 15.9142
90 Day 17.8767
180 Day 22.3085
LIBOR (%)
USD 1 Month 0.76556
USD 2 Months 0.82278
USD 3 Months 1.00511
USD 6 Months 1.32156
USD 12 Months 1.06675
Benchmark yields
Tenor Maturity Yield (%)
91d 06-Apr-17 13.29
182d 06-Jul-17 19.08
364d 02-Nov-17 21.90
2y 29-Jun-19 16.13
3y 13-Feb-20 16.23
5y 27-Jan-22 15.92
Indicative Currency Exchange Rates
Bid Offer
USDNGN 314.50 315.00
EURUSD 1.0490 1.0692
GBPUSD 1.2280 1.2482
USDJPY 116.18 116.21
USDCHF 1.00725 1.0174
GBPEUR 1.1535 1.1739
USDZAR 13.5823 13.7857
JPYNGN 2.6497 2.7503
CHFNGN 312.74 314.39
EURNGN 338.92 340.28
GBPNGN 404.78 406.18
