Business
Dollar Snaps Four-Day Advance on Services Report; Won Tumbles
WASHINGTON – The dollar fell for the first time in five days, ending its longest rally in two months, after a report showed services unexpectedly declined in December.
The euro climbed from a one-month low against the dollar as industry data confirmed the region’s services output expanded for a fifth month before the European Central Bank discusses interest rates on Jan. 9. South Korea’s won tumbled on bets the central bank will cut borrowing costs. South Africa’s rand gained after Moody’s Investors Service said the country will retain its investment-grade credit rating.
“There was a bit of dollar weakness off that data,” Alan Ruskin, the New York-based global head of Group of 10 foreign-exchange at Deutsche Bank AG, the world’s largest currency trader, said in a phone interview. “Over the year, we’re still constructive on the dollar” as the U.S. economic outlook improves.
The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, which tracks the currency against 10 major peers, dropped 0.2 percent to 1,023.87 at 5 p.m. in New York after climbing to 1,029.67 on Jan. 2, the highest since Sept. 9. It completed a six-day rally on Nov. 1.
The dollar fell 0.3 percent to 1.3629 per euro after rising to $1.3572, the highest level since Dec. 5. The greenback slid 0.6 percent to 104.22 yen, while the Japanese currency advanced 0.3 percent to 142.04 per euro.
Won Tumbles
South Korea’s won weakened the most in six months against the dollar the dollar, dropping 1 percent to close at 1,065.42. The currency jumped 7.2 percent against the greenback in the past six months.
The strong won is contributing to tighter monetary conditions that may hurt the recovery and prompt the central bank to cut its policy rate at a meeting this week, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said in an e-mailed note.
“The early trend to the year appears to have been to liquidate or take profit on trades that did quite well through the second half of 2013,” said Jonathan Cavenagh, a strategist at Westpac Banking Corp. in Singapore. The won still looks “expensive” at these levels, he said.
South Africa’s rand gained as Moody’s said in an e-mailed report that the nation’s debt levels are “manageable” and a pickup in demand from Europe and the U.S. is “promising” for growth in 2014. The nation’s rating will probably remain in the Baa range “for the foreseeable future,” it said. Moody’s rates South Africa Baa1, the third-lowest investment level, with a negative outlook.
The rand climbed 1 percent to 10.6496 per dollar after sliding to 10.76 on Jan. 3, the weakest since November 2008. The currency tumbled 19 percent last year.
Yen Shorts
The yen gained after dropping 14 percent in the past 12 months for the worst performance among 10 developed-nation currencies tracked by Bloomberg Correlation-Weighted Indexes. The dollar climbed 3.8 percent and the euro advanced 8.4 percent, the best performer.
Hedge funds and other large speculators trimmed bets the yen will weaken from almost a seven-year high, according to data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The difference in the number of wagers on a decline in the currency compared with those on a gain — so-called net shorts — was 135,228 as of Dec. 31, compared with 143,822 a week earlier that was the most since July 2007.
Service Industries
The dollar declined against most major peers as the Institute for Supply Management non-manufacturing index decreased to 53 last month from 53.9 in November, a report from the Tempe, Arizona-based group showed today. The median projection in a Bloomberg survey of 69 economists was 54.7. Estimates ranged from 53 to 57.7. Readings above 50 indicate growth in the industries that make up 90 percent of the economy.
“The ISM data was just one thing — U.S. data has been surprising on the upside,” said Thanos Vamvakidis, a currency strategist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in London. “In the short term, euro-dollar will stay in the current range. Looking forward, as tapering continues, and even as the ECB remains on hold, the euro will gradually weaken.”
Official data last week showed U.S. manufacturing expanded for a seventh month in December, while jobless claims fell by 2,000 to 339,000 in the period ended Dec. 28.
Fed Taper
Fed officials said Dec. 18 they would trim monthly purchases of bonds to $75 billion from $85 billion starting this month. The central bank will probably reduce its quantitative easing in $10 billion increments over the next seven meetings, before ending the program in December 2014, according to the median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg on Dec. 19.
The euro rose for the first time in three days against the dollar as Markit Economics said its services index, based on a survey of purchasing managers, was 51 last month from 51.2 in November. That’s in line with an initial estimate on Dec. 16. A reading above 50 indicates expansion.
Europe has a “better balance of payments, lack of stimulus, external demand amid tightening periphery spreads,” Geoffrey Yu, a senior currency strategist at UBS AG in London, said via e-mail message, explaining investors’ cautious optimism on the European economic recovery.
– BLOOMBERG
The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC JV) – Operator of the NNPC Limited, SPDC, TotalEnergies and Nigerian Agip Oil Company Joint Venture – has, announced the donation of US$1 million to support efforts to provide relief to over half a million people displaced in flood impacted communities of Borno State.
Managing Director, SPDC, and Country Chair, Shell Companies in Nigeria, Osagie Okunbor, said, “The donation will go into the procurement and distribution of relief materials and medical supplies for displaced residents who are now in urgent need of critical aid.”
He added that a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), local to the region with understanding of working with displaced people, will manage the distribution of the materials in collaboration with the Borno State Emergency Management Agency.
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According to Okunbor, the SPDC JV intervention was in response to the alert issued in September by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), following the significant rise in water levels caused by the overflowing of the Alau Dam, and the calls for support by Borno State Governor, Babagana Umara Zulum.
“We consider providing this support to be of necessity to demonstrate our commitment to our society and the duty of care to our people. It expresses our deep concern for the victims of the devastating floods in Borno State,” Okunbor said.
He noted that the SPDC Joint Venture’s gesture is a continuation of similar assistance given over the years to the region that is recovering from recent conflicts.
Chief Upstream Operating Officer of the NNPC Upstream Investment Management Services (NUIMS), Bala Wunti, in a statement, added, “The urgency in providing this relief is important given the region’s existing vulnerabilities, with people recently barely recovering from conflict-induced displacement. The flooding has severely disrupted socio-economic activities, with women and children being disproportionately affected and we are glad that the joint venture is able to provide succour at this time.”
Wunti said, “As a responsible corporate organization, NNPC is glad to support the SPDC Joint Venture in this essential activity. Our thoughts are with those affected and with the government agencies working tirelessly to provide relief. We pledge to support ongoing efforts through immediate humanitarian aid and long-term partnerships for sustainable recovery.”
Investors on the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) saw a boost of N217 billion added to their portfolios on Thursday, with the All-Share Index rising by 0.37% to close at 96,924.86 points.
This increase also lifted market capitalization to N58.73 trillion, driving the year-to-date return to 29.62%.
The insurance, consumer goods, oil and gas, and industrial goods sectors saw gains, increasing by 1.84%, 0.01%, 1.77%, and 0.02%, respectively, while the banking sector experienced a slight decline of 0.38%.
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A total of 33 stocks advanced, with top gainers including Conoil, Aradel, Eunisell, John Holt, and Thomas Wyatt. Meanwhile, Tantalizer, NGX Group, and Wema Bank were among the 17 decliners.
Trading activity surged with a 744.54% increase in volume and 16.48% increase in value, as 744.54 million shares worth N16.48 billion were traded across 9,700 deals. Consolidated Hallmark led in volume with 124.8 million shares, followed by Japaul Gold and EllahLakes. FBN Holdings, which recently opened its N150 billion rights issue, also featured prominently on the volume chart.
This robust trading activity highlights renewed investor confidence and growing momentum in Nigeria’s capital market.
Nigeria would soon have her own definition of free market, albeit by judicial interpretation, so long as the petroleum sector is concerned.
This follows the legal tussle on the legality of importation of refined products into Nigeria, on the heels of the deregulation of that sector.
Biztellers reports that three oil marketers, AYM Shafa Limited, A. A. Rano Limited, and Matrix Petroleum Services Limited, have approached the Federal High Court in Abuja, praying for a dismissal of a suit filed by the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals (DPRP) to stop them from importing refined petroleum products.
The marketers, in response to an originating summon filed by the DPRP, filed a joint counter affidavit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1324/2024, and dated November 5, 2024.
They maintained that granting the application of the DPRP would spell doom for Nigeria’s oil sector.
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Their legal and economic argument assert that any form of monopoly for Nigeria’s oil sector is a recipe for disaster.
Recall that the DPRP in its originating summon dated September 6, 2024, had sued the Nigeria Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) and the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPC Ltd), AYM Shafa Limited, A. A. Rano Limited, T. Time Petroleum Limited, 2015 Petroleum Limited, and Matrix Petroleum Services Limited as 1st to 7th defendants respectively.
Specifically, the DPRP prayed the court to declare that the NMDPRA was in violation of Sections 317(8) and (9) of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) by issuing licenses for the importation of petroleum products.
It asserted that such licenses should only be issued in circumstances where there is a petroleum product shortfall.
Consequently, the DPRP urged the court to declare that the NMDPRA was in violation of its statutory responsibilities under the PIA for not encouraging local refineries, the DPRP inclusive.
As a result, Shafa, A. A. Rano, and Matrix Petroleum, countered that the DPRP does not produce adequate petroleum products for the daily consumption of Nigerians.
According to their affidavit, the plaintiff had not placed anything before the court to prove the contrary.
They argued that they are well qualified and entitled to be issued an import licence by the NMDPRA to import petroleum products in Nigeria within the meaning of Section 317(9) of the PIA.
They also noted that they are fully qualified for the issuance of the import licences issued to them by the 1st defendant, as they duly met all the legal requirements for the issuance of such import licences, before the same were issued to them.
They categorically stated that, “The import licences lawfully and validly issued to the defendants did not in any way whatsoever, cripple the plaintiff’s business or its refinery.
“The import licenses issued to the defendants by the 1st defendant are in line with the provisions of the Petroleum Industry Act, 2021, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act, 2018, and other relevant laws.”
They insisted that giving the DPRP the power of monopoly in Nigeria’s petroleum industry as it sought in the instant suit, would kill competitive pricing of petroleum products in the country.
They cautioned that such an act would further deteriorate the country’s critically ailing economy.
They also added that it would “unleash untold hardship on Nigerians, all of which constitute a recipe for disaster in the polity”.
The marketers explained that if Nigeria puts all her energy eggs in one basket by stopping the importation of petroleum products and allowing the plaintiff to be the sole producer and supplier of petroleum products in Nigeria, with liberty to determine the prices at which it supplies the products, the prices of petroleum products will continue to rise and energy security will elude Nigeria.
In addition, they pointed out that should the DPRP break down being a monopolized sector, Nigeria would be plunged into a-difficult-to-manage energy crisis.
“That in the event of any breakdown in or obstruction to the production chain of the plaintiff which stops it from producing, Nigeria will be thrown into energy crises because it does not have the reserves that would last it for at least 30 days that it would need to order, pay for, freight and import refined products into tanks in Nigeria.
“That amidst the glaring absence of any credible and demonstrable proof that the plaintiff refines and supplies adequate petroleum products for the daily use/consumption of Nigerians, is a recipe for disaster in Nigeria’s energy sector,” they wrote.
They further told the court that granting the reliefs sought by the plaintiff was a design to leave Nigeria and Nigerians at the mercy of the plaintiff with respect to the availability and cost of purchasing petroleum products in the country.
The presiding judge, Justice Inyang Ekwo fixed January 20, 2025, for a report of settlement or service.
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