Business
China inflows slowed by yuan slide
BEIJING – China’s efforts to kick out speculators betting on currency gains are showing early signs of success, with cash flooding into the country slowing sharply and losses accelerating in the yuan, which hit the lowest level in more than 11 months Wednesday.
Foreign money entering China fell to a five-month low of $21.1 billion in February, according to central bank data this week, and compares to $72.3 billion in January.
Analysts say that is a result of Beijing’s moves that begun last month, to send the yuan lower and introduce bigger two-way moves in the currency to deter inflows. So-called “hot money” from abroad is a problem as it inflates asset prices like property, and adds to risks in the banking system.Currency traders are taking cues from the People’s Bank of China, the nation’s central bank, which has continued to fix the daily reference rate for the yuan against the U.S. dollar weaker. On Wednesday the rate was set weaker at 6.1351 per dollar, and in trading the currency fell further to 6.2040, with a higher number meaning a weaker yuan.
For the first time, the yuan traded past its previous 1% band.
The yuan typically trades stronger than the fixing, officially known as the central parity rate, but in recent weeks it has sharply depreciated past the fixing, and losses have accelerated this week.
The offshore yuan, which is also closely watched and traded mainly in Hong Kong, dropped to 6.1989.
The falling yuan is starting to affect markets beyond the currency too. A Chinese department store operator, Maoye International Holdings Ltd. 0848.HK -1.69% , was forced to pull a sale of yuan-denominated debt in Hong Kong on Wednesday, according to a person close to the deal, attributing it to dimmed appetite from investors due to the currency volatility.
One worry too has been financial derivative products that allow companies to profit from yuan-appreciation, but turn sour if the currency drops. The level of 6.20 in the offshore yuan market has been closely watched as analysts say it is where losses could start to grow fast.
“A move of the [offshore yuan] toward or past 6.20 would have major repercussions for the [yuan] market and Chinese businesses,” Dariusz Kowalczyk, a senior economist and strategist at Crédit Agricole, ACA.FR +2.05% said Tuesday. “These structured FX products have been sold by banks to—usually—SMEs in China and Taiwan, with the latter betting on continued [offshore yuan] gains. For most of the structures, banks no longer make payments to corporates at [offshore yuan versus U.S. dollar] levels above 6.15, where we are right now, and clients are exposed to unlimited, leveraged losses north of 6.20.”
But some say sales of these products, which have already opened companies up to mounting losses as the currency has continued to weaken and added to the speculative capital inflows, are falling.
The “slowdown in capital inflows can already be seen in weaker February trade data, as well as the fall in [offshore yuan] structured product sales,” analysts from Nomura said on Wednesday.
Analysts expect the March data for foreign exchange purchases to decrease even further as the companies and investors digest the central bank’s actions and the market’s reactions.
“It was only in late February that the market realized it might not be a temporary correction, it might be relatively prolonged correction and then the slowdown. I think you will see that in the March number,” said Ju Wang, a senior currency strategist at HSBC HSBA.LN -0.95% in Hong Kong.
Ms. Wang said this is a result of investors realizing the Chinese currency will no longer appreciate at the pace it has till now.
– WALLSTREET JOURNAL
Chevron Nigeria won the second-best exhibitor award at the just-concluded 2026 Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists (NAPE) conference and exhibition at Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.
Biztellers reports that Olajumoke Cecilia Ajayi, FNAPE, NAPE President (2025–2026) and Managing Director/CEO of Ingentia Energies Limited, presented the award to Chevron, during the awards dinner on November 12, 2026.
The award is in recognition of Chevron’s outstanding exhibition, where visitors to its booth, particularly students, took part in Geology/Geophysics presentations and quizzes, word games, and Human Resources/Nigerian Content presentations and quizzes, with gifts for winners and participants.
Commenting on the award, the leader of the Chevron’s exhibition team, Dr. Victor Anyaegbudike, Manager Communications, Chevron companies in Nigeria and the Mid Africa Region, commended NAPE for its commitment to hosting the annual conference and exhibition. He noted that Chevron has operated in Nigeria for over 60 years, contributing to the country’s growth and development and making human investments that yield long-term, transformative returns.
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“At Chevron Nigeria, we drive innovation and investment to open up opportunities for growth, jobs, productivity and lasting value. Forums like the NAPE conference and exhibition matter because they bring government, academia, students and industry together around shared goals and a better understanding of one another,” he remarked.
Victor noted that Chevron is committed to building productive, collaborative and mutually beneficial relationships, grounded in trust, with governments, partners, customers, communities and employees. “We believe that affordable, reliable and ever-cleaner energy is vital to a more prosperous and sustainable world,” he said.
Attendees at the NAPE conference and exhibition included representatives of the Federal Government of Nigeria, industry regulators, industry leaders, academics, and students from tertiary institutions across the country.
The Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) recorded a 1.36 per cent weekly gain as its market capitalisation increased to ₦163.80 trillion at the close of trading on Friday, November 13, 2026.
The NGX All-Share Index (ASI) rose to 252,269.16 points, pushing the market’s year-to-date return to 62.11 per cent.
The performance reflected a positive trading week for the equities market, with 43 listed companies recording price appreciation, compared with 29 in the previous week.
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According to the Exchange’s weekly market report, investors traded 8.03 billion shares valued at ₦185.36 billion in 160,836 deals during the week.
This represented a significant increase in trading volume from the 2.83 billion shares exchanged in 192,158 deals in the preceding week, although the total value of transactions declined from ₦208.41 billion.
The Financial Services Industry dominated trading activities, accounting for 4.85 billion shares worth ₦95.79 billion. This represented 60.45 per cent of the total equity turnover volume and 51.68 per cent of turnover value.
The Agriculture Industry followed with 2.24 billion shares valued at ₦22.78 billion, while the Consumer Goods Industry recorded 260.99 million shares worth ₦11.89 billion.
Further details of the market performance showed that 39 equities declined during the week, compared with 57 in the previous week, while 64 equities closed unchanged against 60 recorded in the preceding period.
On the gainers’ chart, Champion Breweries Plc emerged as the best-performing stock, appreciating by 27.27 per cent, while LivingTrust Mortgage Bank Plc recorded the biggest loss, declining by 18.53 per cent.
Meanwhile, trading in Exchange-Traded Products (ETPs) stood at 1.21 million units valued at ₦278.97 million in 3,351 deals, compared with 1.46 million units worth ₦381.82 million in 4,085 deals in the previous week.
The fixed-income segment recorded 156,612 units valued at ₦177.88 million in 41 deals, against 21.99 million units worth ₦20.60 billion in 48 deals recorded in the preceding week.
The Exchange also recorded the listing of two commercial paper instruments issued by Thrive Agric Limited.
The instruments comprised ₦3.17 billion Series 1 (Tranche A) and ₦2.09 billion Series 1 (Tranche B) Commercial Papers, with a combined value of approximately ₦5.26 billion.
Nigeria produced a daily average of 1.687 barrels of crude oil and condensate in October 2026, and met its OPEC quota for the sixth consecutive month.
Data from the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) showed that in strict crude oil terms (excluding condensate), the country produced an average of 1.51mbpd in October.
This is 101 percent of the 1.5mbpd quota set by OPEC.
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The data, released on Wednesday, also shows that single-day production hit a peak of 1.79 million barrels, while the lowest for the month under review stood at 1.60 million bpd.
The crude oil data (excluding condensate) shows that Nigeria has met its assigned OPEC quota for six straight months, producing 1.53mobpd in May; 1.55mobpd in June; 1.51mobpd in July; 1.5mobpd in August, 1.53mobpd in September and 1.51mobpd in October.
On a month of month basis, however, production dipped by 1.7 percent.
The NUPRC attributed the stable performance in recent months to an enhanced operational stability, supported improved production uptime and crude evacuation efficiency.
The sustained growth recorded in October reflects the continued commitment of operators and industry stakeholders towards improving operational efficiency, maintaining asset integrity, and enhancing production reliability across the Nigerian upstream petroleum sector.
A breakdown of the daily average crude oil and condensate production by terminals/streams during the review month shows that Forcados Terminal accounted for 318.49kbpd while Bonny comes second with 311.02kbpd.
Qua Iboe Terminal recorded an average production of 173.97kbpd of crude oil and condensates while Escravos Oil Terminal posted a daily average of 134.67kbpd.
Bonga ranked as the fifth highest producing terminal, recording an average of 106.65kbpd of crude oil and condensate.
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