Tue Apr 5, 2016/Reuters

By Nigel Stephenson

The dollar fell on Tuesday to its weakest against the yen since October 2014 as investors pulled away from riskier assets, pushing shares and oil prices lower as the outlook for U.S. interest rates remained clouded.

The Japanese currency, often sought in times of market turmoil or economic uncertainty, fell as low as 110.30 per dollar JPY= as shares fell in Europe and Asia.

U.S. stocks also looked set open lower, according to index futures ESc1 1YMc1.

Oil, which fell in recent days on fading prospects of agreement among producers to curb oversupply, took another hit from data showing U.S. demand for gasoline declined in January for the first time in 14 months.

Further muddying the waters for investors, two senior officials of the U.S. Federal Reserve said the market’s views of when the central bank would raise interest rates may be too “pessimistic”.

Just a week ago, Fed Chair Janet Yellen said the Fed would proceed cautiously in raising rates — remarks viewed as dovish and which drove U.S. stocks to 2016 highs.

The dollar fell 0.8 percent against the yen and last traded at 110.37 yen. The euro EUR= fell 0.3 percent to $1.1354.

“Clearly risk sentiment is not good and oil prices are declining this week and … driving the dollar lower against the yen,” said Yujiro Goto, currency strategist at Nomura in London.

The Australian dollar AUD= fell with commodity prices and dropped nearly 1 percent to $0.7533, having risen after the Reserve Bank of Australia left interest rates unchanged, as widely expected.

In stock markets, the FTSEurofirst 300 share index .FTEU3 dropped 1.8 percent. Germany’s DAX index .GDAXI slid 2.3 percent after data showed German industrial orders unexpectedly fell 2.1 percent in February due to weak foreign demand, especially from euro zone countries.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS was earlier down 1.7 percent. Japan’s Nikkei index .N225 fell 2.4 percent to an eight-week closing low.

Chinese shares bucked the trend, closing up 1.3 .CSI300 to 1.4 percent .SSEC as trading resumed after a market holiday.

Oil prices, down from above $100 a barrel since mid-2014 on a global supply glut to a trough of $27.10 in late January, fell again after the U.S. Energy Information Administration said on Monday that gasoline demand fell 0.6 percent in January. Total U.S. oil demand fell 1 percent compared with January 2015.

Brent crude LCOc1 traded 26 cents lower at $37.43 a barrel, down from a 2016 high of $42.54 touched in mid-March.

“As long as most speculative money is long-positioned, there is more room for closing positions and falling prices,” said Frank Klumpp, oil analyst at Stuttgart-based Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg.

LOW-RISK

As stock prices tumbled, yields on low-risk government bonds fell. German 10-year yields DE10YT=TWEB, the benchmark for euro zone borrowing costs, fell as far as 0.08 percent, their lowest in almost a year.

“The data signals weaker export growth, softer demand both within the euro zone and abroad and thus suggesting that the ECB’s challenge as regards boosting inflation and inflation expectations is and will remain very much an uphill battle,” Rabobank strategist Matt Cairns said.

U.S. 10-year Treasury yields US10YT=RR fell nearly 6 basis points to 1.72 percent, their lowest since March 1.

Gold, another perceived safe haven and a top-performing asset in the first three months of 2016, rose 1.4 percent, reversing losses of 1.4 percent chalked up in the last two days. It traded at $1,231.40 an ounce.

Copper CMCU3 edged down 0.1 percent to $4,757.50 a ton.

(Additional reporting by Lisa Twaronite in Tokyo, Anirban Nag and John Geddie in London; Editing by John Stonestreet and Raissa Kasolowsky)

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April 4, 2016/The Nation

By Collins Nweze

Foreign investors repatriating profits and others exiting the Nigeria equities and bond markets last week triggered a rise in foreign exchange (forex) disbursement by leading banks.

Many of the investors, after liquidating their investments, secured forex to repatriate their funds through Stanbic IBTC Bank. The lender disbursed $19,305,571.50 to 68 customers,   according to published disbursement data for last week.

JPM London secured $3,331,564.24 from Stanbic IBTC for its divestment of equities and Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) Bonds. There was also $2,010,690.01 disbursed to State Street/Stanbic Nominees-E by the lender for the same purpose.

BP2S/BNP Pribas obtained $130,167.61; Standard Bank of South Africa, $541,671.31; Merrill Lynch International $63, 767.89; HSBC Funds Services London, $394,210.30; and The Bank of New York Mellon 2, $206,317.82.

The foreign investors have been pressurising the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to devalue the naira, which it has vehemently resisted. Last week’s repatriation of investments is expected to continue in the months ahead as the margin between the official exchange rates has continued to widen.

The naira/dollar exchange rate remained unchanged at N197 to dollar at the CBN and N199.50/US$1 at the interbank market. At the Bureau-De-Change, the naira appreciated against the dollar marginally on all trading days of last week, with the Naira/Dollar rate trending lower from N322.00/$1 on Tuesday (appreciating N1 from Thursday) to close at N320/$1.00 on Friday. The parallel market was also stable as Naira/Dollar traded for N323/$1 on all trading days save for Wednesday when it rose marginally to N324.00/$1.

Stanbic IBTC also disbursed $6 million in three tranches to Rain Oil for the importation of petroleum products and $1,082,440.37 to GZ Industries Limited for aluminum coils import and $100,000 in Personal Travel Allowances (PTAs) to 25 customers.

Diamond Bank led other lenders with $20,084,368 disbursed to 222 customers, mainly for school fees payment, PTAs and importation of petroleum products.

Zenith Bank Plc disbursed $13, 107,525.71 to 362 customers. The lender disbursed $3,646,399.15 to Tiger Branded Consumer for Canadian Milling Wheat. Virgin Atlantic got $1 million for air ticket sales remittance.

Oando Marketing secured $360,000 in two tranches for importation of petroleum products. The bank also made disbursements to Seven-Up Bottling Company Plc; Sonia Foods Industries Limited; Emerging Markets Telecom Services; Boulous Enterprises Limited; Honeywell Flour Mills Plc. There were several Personal Travel Allowances (PTAs), among others.

United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc also disbursed forex to 242 customers. Some of the big beneficiaries are: Total and Eterna Oil which accessed $1,201,649.61 and $1, 449,358.03 restively. The lender also funded $1 million remittance tickets for IATA and several other transactions for school fees payment.

FirstBank disbursed $6 million in two tranches to Gulf Treasures Limited for the importation of petroleum products. There was also $1.943,612.48 disbursed to Elephant Group Limited for NPK -15-15-15 bulk importation. The bank also disbursed to customers for the payment of school fees and PTAs.

Other lenders that got forex are Diamond Bank, GTBank, First City Monument Bank, Wema Bank.

The funds were sourced from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and sold to the beneficiary customers at the official rate of N197.50 to dollar. The beneficiaries used the funds for the importation of goods, services and other items that fall within the CBN-stipulated import approval list.

CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele has consistently assured stakeholders that the country will continue to meet financial obligations to foreign investors and her international trading partners.

The weekly publications on forex utilisation are meant to promote transparency and accountability on the side of the lenders, which act as a link between the regulator and the forex users.

The post Banks channel forex to investors exiting equities, bond markets appeared first on Investadvocate.

Thu Mar 3, 2016/Reuters

South Africa’s MTN Group expects Nigeria to devalue the naira by up to 22 percent at some point this year, chief financial officer Brett Goschen said on Thursday.

Africa’s biggest wireless operator is in talks with Nigerian authorities to reduce a $3.9 billion fine imposed last year for failing to cut off unregistered SIM card users.

Nigeria’s naira trades officially at 197 against the dollar but changes hands on the black market at nearer 350 to the greenback. Goschen said he expects Nigeria’s central bank will devalue the official rate to 230-240/$ this year.

(Reporting by Tiisetso Motsoeneng; Writing by Joe Brock; Editing by James Macharia)

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