Business
Asian shares fall as Iraq crises escalate
TOKYO – Asian shares fell on Wednesday, echoing losses on Wall Street as concerns about escalating violence in Iraq eclipsed stronger U.S. economic data.
The gloom was likely to spread to European trading, where financial spreadbetters expected Britain’s FTSE 100 to open as much as 0.6 percent lower, Germany’s DAX down 0.5 percent, and France’s CAC 40 to weaken 0.7 percent.
“The bears look to be firmly in control and leaning heavily on that sell button as we expect to see a fairly large gap lower, given current volatility, on the open for the major European indices,” Capital Spreads trader Jonathan Sudaria wrote in a note to clients.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry urged leaders of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region on Tuesday to stand with Baghdad in the face of a Sunni insurgency, as security forces fought the rebels for control of the country’s biggest oil refinery.
A senior U.S. intelligence official said that the insurgents were “well positioned” to hold a broad swathe of territory captured in northern and western Iraq unless the Baghdad government can muster a counter-offensive.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell about 0.4 percent, while Japan’s Nikkei stock average ended 0.7 percent lower.
In volatile U.S. trading on Tuesday, the S&P 500 closed down more than half a percent in its sharpest loss since June 12, after earlier setting a fourth record high in five sessions following upbeat U.S. economic data.
Sales of new homes surged 18.6 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 504,000 units in May, the highest since May 2008 and the biggest increase since January 1992. Separate data from the Conference Board showed its index of consumer attitudes rose to 85.2 in June from a downwardly revised 82.2 in May.
But U.S. Treasury prices shrugged off the brighter data and yields fell, with the benchmark 10-year rate dropping to 2.580 percent in Asia from its U.S. close of 2.586 percent.
A trio of Fed officials gave investors no reason to believe the central bank’s stance had changed. William Dudley, president of the New York Fed, said the U.S. central bank can wait to raise interest rates until mid-2015 without risking an undesirable rise in inflation.
San Francisco Fed President John Williams said on Tuesday that the U.S. economy is about two years from being “normal,” while Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Plosser said the economy continues to improve, making steady rather than exuberant progress.
With no help from U.S. Treasury yields, the dollar edged down about 0.1 percent to buy 101.89 yen, while the euro also inched lower to 138.71 yen.
“Overall, the yen looks better bid unless the Bank of Japan comes up with its next easing plan,” said Bart Wakabayashi, head of forex at State Street in Tokyo.
Despite the BOJ’s confidence that it will meet its inflation target next year without further stimulus, most economists still believe it will need to ease policy again by December, according to a Reuters poll published on Wednesday.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe unveiled a package of measures on Tuesday aimed at boosting Japan’s long-term economic growth, though market impact was muted.
Against the greenback, the euro was slightly higher on the day at $1.3613.
The dollar index also consolidated at 80.293, solidly within the 80.000-81.000 range in which it has been stuck since May.
Crude oil markets were mixed as traders weighed the likelihood of supply disruptions from Iraq.
U.S. prices rose on a Wall Street Journal report that the government has allowed two companies to export ultra-light oil known as condensate, a first step that effectively loosens a 40-year ban on most U.S. crude exports.
U.S. crude for August delivery advanced about 0.6 percent to $106.69 a barrel, after spiking as high as $107.50 early in the session.
Brent crude for August fell about 0.2 percent to $114.24.
“Oil prices have been unusually stable in recent years, but events in Iraq are causing a reassessment of medium-term oil market fundamentals that we expect to translate into a phase of higher long-term prices and more volatile trading conditions,” strategists at Barclays said in a note to clients.
“Geopolitical risks have replaced China’s growth and Fed policy as the main concerns for investors,” they said.
Spot gold slipped about 0.4 percent to $1,312.40 an ounce, after spiking to a more than two-month high of $1,325.90 on Tuesday.
– REUTERS
The Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation has uncovered financial irregularities amounting to ₦514 billion in the 2021 operations of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd).
The revelations were contained in a comprehensive audit report highlighting non-compliance and internal control weaknesses within Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) during the 2021 financial year.
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Breakdown of Infractions
The audit detailed four major financial discrepancies within NNPCL:
“Irregular Deductions: A total of ₦343.64 billion was deducted from domestic crude oil sales at source without proper documentation.
“Sinking Fund Deposits: ₦83.66 billion, categorized as miscellaneous income, was retained in a sinking fund account.
“Unauthorised Refinery Deductions: ₦82.95 billion was deducted from federation revenue purportedly for refinery rehabilitation.
“Unsubstantiated Payments: ₦3.75 billion was flagged for transactions related to petrol sales that lacked proper verification.
The Auditor-General’s report stated that these financial activities violated the 1999 Constitution and the Financial Regulations Act of 2009, underscoring significant lapses in compliance with statutory guidelines.
According to the report, NNPCL generated ₦484.73 billion from domestic crude oil sales in March and May 2021.
However, ₦343.64 billion was deducted for various purposes, including “Value Shortfall,” “Strategic Stock Holding Cost,” and “Pipeline Maintenance.”
The deductions were made unilaterally by NNPCL without adequate documentation or justification.
Additionally, the report flagged ₦50 billion of the net payable amount for May 2021 as unaccounted for, creating a significant gap in the federation’s revenue.
“Audit observed from the review of NNPC SAP payment record for March and May 2021 payments that the sum of ₦484.73bn was the gross amount generated for the sale of domestic crude for the months of March and May 2021.
“The sum of ₦343.64bn from the gross amount was unilaterally deducted from the gross domestic crude sales as NNPC Value shortfall, Strategic Stock Holding Cost, Crude Oil and Products Pipeline Losses, as well as the pipelines maintenance and management costs.
“The details of each of the cost components deducted were not provided for audit review. Hence, the reasons for the deductions could not be justified by the management.”
On the unremitted ₦50 billion from May 2021, the report noted: “In the month of May, the net payable that could have been remitted ought to have been ₦127.075bn, but only the sum of ₦77.075bn was remitted, leaving an unremitted balance of N50bn to the Federation Account, which has remained unaccounted for.”
The report attributed these anomalies to weaknesses in NNPCL’s internal control systems, warning of the risks they pose to public funds.
It read, “The above anomalies could be attributed to weaknesses in the internal control system at NNPC, now NNPC Ltd. This is a potential loss of Federation revenue, diversion of public funds, or misapplication or misappropriation of funds.”
The success of the maiden edition of the Lagos Shopping Festival (LSF), Africa’s first 72-hour non-stop commerce and entertainment event has been credited to the Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
This is the view of Managing Director/Chief Strategist of Chain Reactions Africa Ltd, Israel Jaiye Opayemi, one of the main organisers of the event.
According to Opayemi, though Chain Reactions Africa conceptualised the event, the festival could be rightly described as the Governor’s baby and owes its success to his leadership. “Firstly, the Lagos Shopping Festival could not have come to fruition if the Governor did not buy into our audacious plan when we first presented the idea to him during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. Secondly, it was the Governor’s exemplary leadership of the project as its Chief Marketing Officer which attracted the buy-in of key sponsors like Zenith Bank, Tolaram Group, First Bank Plc, and Guinness Nigeria Plc,” Opayemi revealed.
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While the duo of Zenith Bank and First Bank provided their bank on wheel platforms for buyers at the Lagos Shopping Festival, they also supported the Vendors with special Point of Sale Machines with which to process payments from buyers. The banks were also seen marketing their diverse banking products to guests within the shopping arena.
For Tolaram, it was a time to support the citizens and give back to society. Guests at the Lagos Shopping Festival were freely given some of the products of the group such as PowerOil, Indomie and Kellogg’s packaged into goodie bags and given out to prospective buyers at the shopping arena. The Children’s Arena was however activated by Indomie with the children entertained by Santa Claus within a well-equipped arena manned by the Indomie Brands team and the Lagos State Safety Marshalls. The children were daily treated to free Indomie meals daily and given various gifts to go home with.
On its part, Guinness Nigeria came through as the real life of the Nigerian party by organizing product sampling activation for the teeming guests at the festival using brands such as Singleton, Johnnie Walker, Ciroc, Don Royale and Captain Morgan to deliver pleasant experiences to guests aside from Guinness and Malta Guinness.
While unveiling the identity of the festival last month, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu had thanked the management of Zenith Bank Plc, Tolaram Africa Group, Guinness Nigeria Plc and First Bank of Nigeria for supporting the idea of a Lagos Shopping Festival, describing it as a value addition on the state’s tourism calendar and the overall efforts to grow the State’s GDP. The Governor further said, “I must specially acknowledge your pioneering sponsorship role. It is easy for a corporate sponsor to jump on the sponsorship band wagon of an already established festival and fund it. But you are supporting the maiden edition of this Lagos Shopping Festival with us. The competition is watching you now. Do not build this brand with us and yield the space for the competition to take over. I do hope you would all commit long term to this brilliant initiative.”
On his part, Girish Sharma, CEO Guinness Nigeria Plc, expressed enthusiasm for the initiative. “Lagos is the commercial heartbeat of Nigeria and Africa’s entertainment capital, and the Lagos Shopping Festival captures its essence. We see opportunities in this initiative because it is a creative fusion of commerce and entertainment. This partnership reflects our dedication to fostering economic opportunities and support the nation’s vibrant entertainment industry.”
A first-of-its-kind, the festival was a convergence of commerce and entertainment, bringing together buyers and sellers in the MSME ecosystem, and hordes of fun-seekers who were entertained with thrilling performances by A-list entertainers, including Adekunle Gold, Wande Coal, Teni, Young Jonn, BNXN, Ayo Maff, SB Live and EmmaOMG. The list also included some of Nigeria’s most sought after DJs such as DJ Neptune, DJ YK Mule, DJ Baddo while Gbenga Adeyinka the 1st and Larry J dished out rib-cracking comedy performances.
Held from 23rd to 25th Day of December 2024, at the iconic Mobolaji Johnson Arena, Onikan Stadium, Lagos, the Lagos Shopping Festival saw thousands of fans throng the main venue and select Lagos malls during the three-day period to bag the latest bargains from local and top global brands.
The Nigerian Naira experienced mixed movements in the foreign exchange markets on Monday, as it depreciated to N1,665 per dollar in the parallel market, down from N1,660 per dollar recorded over the weekend.
In contrast, the official exchange rate saw the Naira appreciate to N1,534.56 per dollar, improving slightly from N1,535 per dollar last Friday, according to data released by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
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This reflects a marginal gain of 44 kobo in the official Nigerian Foreign Exchange Market (NFEM).
As a result, the gap between the parallel market rate and the NFEM rate widened to N130.44 per dollar, compared to the N125 per dollar margin recorded over the weekend.
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