Brent crude prices dipped early on Monday, falling to $77.39/bbl (Friday close: $78.26/bbl) as fears of a shortage abated after data at the end of the previous week showed an increase in oil supplies. Furthermore, additional U.S. tariffs of $200 billion on Chinese imports expected this week have cast a cloud over oil demand in the latter part of the year.
However, these factors are being upset by persistent concerns over sanctions on Iranian exports, with India, Iran’s second-largest buyer, announcing a 50% cut in crude loadings from Iran in the coming months.
With this, Brent crude prices began trending up during trading in Asian markets, recovering enough to breach the $78/bbl mark. Whilst we see the U.S.-China trade war weighing on medium-term oil demand, we expect declining Iranian exports to prop global oil prices.
Equity:
Bargain hunters supported a 95bps recovery on the equity market at week close. However, this was unable to offset much stronger earlier losses that saw the All-Share Index shed 502bps w/w. As market sentiment remains evidently weak and sell-pressure persists on blue-chip stocks across all key sectors, we anticipate another bearish start to trading today.
Stock Watch:
FLOUR MILL shed 11.63% last week, bringing the stock to a 16-month low of ₦19.00. At a 48% discount from our target price (₦36.32), the stock is currently rated BUY.
Fixed Income:
We expect the tepid trading activity to continue today as market participants anticipate further yield uptick.
