UkoLight

The Naira on Friday suffered marginal loss against the dollar at the parallel market in spite of CBN’s intervention at the foreign exchange market. Reports say that the Naira lost one point to exchange at N366, weaker than N365 traded on Thursday, while the pound sterling and the Euro closed at N468 and N412, respectively. At the Bureau De Change (BDC) window, the Naira was sold at N363 to the dollar, while the pound sterling and the Euro exchange d at N470 and N412, respectively. Trading at the official interbank window saw the Naira closed at N306 to the dollar, while the pound sterling and the Euro traded at N396.10 and N348.50, respectively. The Nigerian currency, however, appreciated at the investors’ window as it closed at N365.02. Traders at the market expressed concern that in spite of the sustained intervention of the apex bank at the FOREX market, the Naira had hovered between N360 and N366 in the past two months. Meanwhile, Prof. Sherrifdeen Te...

US stocks ended in the black but off highs on Monday, with volumes beginning to taper off in the run-up to Christmas and as investors eyed events in Germany in Turkey. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 ended up 0.2%, while the Nasdaq rose 0.4%. CMC Markets’ Michael Hewson said: “Attention remains on whether the recent rally in the Dow has the legs to retest the 20,000 level that saw the index fall short on two occasions last week.” Although the indices managed to eke out some gains, the mood was undermined after a truck drove into a Christmas market in Berlin, killing at least nine people and injuring around 50 in what is believed to have been a deliberate attack. In addition, investors were digesting news that Russia’s ambassador to Turkey was shot dead by an off-duty policeman at an art gallery in Ankara. The killer was said to have stood over the ambassador’s body shouting “revenge for Syria and Aleppo”. Geopolitical tensions were also at play on Monday, ...

The State government says the Memorandum of Understanding will produce an Abia State Palm Estate in Ohambele in Ukwa East Local Government Area of the state to increase the wealth of the State. The Palm Estate is expected to support the governor’s drive to restore the state as the number one palm producer and create jobs for youths. The Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr Uzo Azubuike, assured the investor that the state government would keep their part of the agreement. He highlighted that the state government was in a hurry to return the state to the years of palm plantations dotting the landscape of the state. “Part of what we are signing now is that the private investor, S-ATM Nigeria Limited will build an oil mill inside the Palm Estate here in Ohambele. “This palm estate is expected to employ more than 5,000 Abians, with greater percentage of the employment from the Ohambele community. “The government will leave no stone unturned in bringing to materialisation one of ...