Business
Dollar steadies at higher levels as bonds fall
LONDON – The dollar upbeat on rate on Thursday and stocks and bonds fell across the globe as investors positioned for U.S. interest rates to rise sooner and faster than previously thought.
Global stocks as measured by the MSCI world equity index dropped 0.6 percent, adding to the previous day’s losses after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said the U.S. central bank might end its bond-buying program this autumn, and could start to raise interest rates around six months later.
Combined with a slight rise in the projected path for rates by Fed members, that led the market to bring forward the likely timing of the first hike in U.S. rates by a couple of months.
The whiplash was felt most in the short end of the Treasury market which is more sensitive to the course of the Fed funds rate. Yields on two-year notes shot up 8 basis points on Wednesday to 43 basis points, the sharpest single-day rise since mid 2011, and were trading at 42 bps on Thursday.
European stocks .FTEU3 dropped 0.4 percent on Thursday, following losses of more than 1.5 percent in Japan .N225 and other Asian markets. .MIAPJ0000PUS
Yellen sought to use her news conference to emphasize that rates would stay low for a while and rise only gradually, but the message was lost on skittish markets.
Her words led the futures market for the U.S. Fed funds rate to shift to pricing in around a 50-50 chance of the first hike in May to June next year. The timing had been July to August beforehand.
Yet many were not convinced the timetable had moved much at all. A Reuters poll of 17 primary dealers found 10 still expected the first hike to come in the second half of 2015, and four were still tipping 2016.
“Looking at the performance of markets this morning, there is no real followthrough,” said Simon Derrick, a currency strategist with Bank of New York Mellon.
“People are looking for reasons why the range should break. I don’t think Yellen was the thing to do it.”
Yields on 10-year notes were at 2.76 percent, having risen 9 basis points on Wednesday. German Bund futures, the benchmark for European bonds, fell 60 ticks.
The rise in U.S. yields in turn helped lift the dollar and sent the euro reeling back a full cent on Wednesday. But the dollar steadied at $1.3826 on Thursday. Against a basket of major currencies, the dollar was holding at 79.993 .DXY after adding 0.8 percent on Wednesday.
The U.S. currency was slightly up at 102.42 yen, having jumped a full yen on Thursday and away from important chart support in the 101.20/30 zone.
The dollar’s gains were gold’s undoing, sending the metal down to three-week lows of $1,319.61 an ounce.
The prospect of rising rates in the United States has not been good for some emerging markets as it threatens to draw capital away, pressuring equities and currencies.
Emerging stocks .MSCIEF fell more than 1 percent on Thursday to the week’s lows, within sight of their worst level in six-weeks.
The rate rise expectations also come as China seems to be weakening its yuan as a way to support a slowing economy, which puts pressure on other nations in the region to lower their currencies to stay competitive on exports.
The yuan skidded 1.33 percent below the daily midpoint fixing to its lowest in a year at 6.2275 per dollar, a long way from where it started the year at 6.0515 and a huge move for the normally tightly-controlled currency.
Last weekend, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) doubled the daily trading band allowed for the yuan to 2 percent from the mid-point that it sets each day.
In oil markets, Brent futures fell 21 cents to six-week lows of $105.62 per barrel, while U.S. crude oil added 2 cents to $100.39.
– REUTERS
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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