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U.S. Stock Futures Edge Lower

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NEW YORK — U.S. stock futures edged lower, pulling back from the sharp gains seen at the end of last week, as investors digested recent signs of lackluster economic growth.

European markets erased early gains to trade little changed, with some downbeat industrial production data weighing on sentiment.About 90 minutes ahead of the open, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slipped 27 points, or 0.2%, to 15712. Last week, the Dow rose 354 points over the last two sessions, the biggest two-day gain in four months, to erase Monday’s 326-point tumble and snap a two-week losing streak.

S&P 500 index futures eased four points, or 0.2%, to 1790 and Nasdaq 100 futures gave up two points, or 0.1%, to 3556. Changes in stock futures don’t always accurately predict stock moves after the opening bell.

Despite last week’s turnaround, the Dow is still down 4.7% on the year and the S&P 500 is 2.8% below its record high seen Jan. 15. Investors have been grappling with concerns over slowing economic growth at a time when the Federal Reserve is paring back on stimulus measures, along with worries about recent turbulence in emerging markets. Data on Friday seemed to add to those concerns, as U.S. employment growth data was weaker-than-expected for a second-straight month.

Joel Johnson, founder of JohnsonBrunetti Retirement & Investment Specialists, which oversees $300 million, said the market could remain volatile over the coming weeks as uncertainty over the economy and Federal Reserve policy hang over investors’ minds, but he recommends investors not to overreact to short-term market weakness.“We’re telling our clients, pullbacks can be expected, stay the course and don’t expect what you saw last year,” Mr. Johnson said, as the S&P 500 soared 30% in 2013. “Expect a little volatility. But overall, the economy will be in a better spot and the markets will be modestly higher this year.”

There were no major economic data scheduled for release on Monday. But later in the week, investors will be focusing on new Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen’s testimony to Congress on Tuesday and Wednesday, jobless claims and retail sales on Thursday and industrial production and consumer sentiment on Friday.

In other markets, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note inched higher to 2.679% from 2.675% late Friday.

Crude oil futures lost 0.4% to $99.47 a barrel, after settling Friday at a new high for the year, while gold futures gained 0.7% to $1,272.50 an ounce. The dollar lost some ground against the euro and the yen.

In Europe, the Stoxx Europe 600 was down less than 0.1% and was in danger of snapping a three-session winning streak. Industrial production in France declined more than expected in December, while production in Italy surprisingly fell on the month.German’s DAX 30 index gave up less than 0.1%, the U.K.’s FTSE 100 edged up less than 0.1% and France’s CAC 40 ticked up 0.1%.

Emerging-market currencies were mostly lower against the dollar, but remained well above their weakest levels hit during the recent selloff, having recovered some losses last week. The Turkish lira, South African rand, and Hungarian forint all fell against the dollar.

Asian markets were mostly higher as strength seen last week in the U.S. market carried over. China’s Shanghai Composite rallied 2% to close at a five-week high and Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average ran up 1.8%.

In corporate news, Hasbro slid 1% in premarket trading after the toymaker reported fourth-quarter earnings that missed analyst estimates, amid weakness in its boys’ category.

Yelp rallied 8.9% after The Wall Street Journal reported that Yahoo will incorporate Yelp’s listings and reviews of local businesses into search results. Yahoo’s stock advanced 1.7%.

– WALLSTREET JOURNAL

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Audit Report Exposes ₦514bn Financial Infractions In NNPCL

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Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited, NNPCL,

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.

READ MORE: Powerful 6.8-Magnitude Earthquake Hits China, Dozens Killed

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.”

 

 

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Opayemi Salutes Sanwo-Olu Over Successful Lagos Shopping Festival

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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.

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Naira Depreciates In Parallel Market, Gains In Official FX Market

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Naira To Dollar Exchanges At N464.67

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).

RELATED NEWS: Naira Weakens Against Dollar Amid FX Shortages

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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