Inflation down for the first time in Fifteen months, FX reserve improvement and exchange rate gaining traction as MPC kicks off it’s second meeting for 2017 . The missing piece is yet missing.

Good Morning and Happy new week.

The Nigeria Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) will commence its two day meeting today the 20^th of March 2017 through to tomorrow the 21^st of March 2017. This meeting will probably be the easiest meeting  of the committee in the recent past considering that it has recorded the best string of positive results on key economic data that measures the committee’s performance.

·         Inflation came down for the first time in fifteen months in the recently released CPI data for February 2017 to 17.785%.

·         Foreign Exchange Reserve strengthened  to $30.30billion

·       The Naira/$ has firmed up toN454 in the parellel market market that has experienced a seere volatility of the the past couple of years and has accounted for the exit of afaoreing Portfolio Investors (FOI) from the Nigerian Market.

·         Slow negative expansion in Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

CBN pumps fresh $180m into forex market

The Central Bank of Nigeria on Monday increased the liquidity in the foreign exchange market by releasing additional $180m for settlement of various transactions.

Naira trades flat, set for further gain

The naira closed flat at 445 against the United States dollar at the parallel market on Monday as the foreign exchange market awaits the further release of the greenback by the Central Bank of Nigeria.The CBN has sold additional $180m into the market this week, barely one week after selling about $600m. The steady supply of forex is in line with the modification made to the forex policy by the regulator.

Pound Touches Two-Week Low as BOE Leaves Monetary Policy on Hold

The pound dropped to a two-week low after the Bank of England voted 9-0 to keep monetary policy unchanged.Sterling weakened versus most of its 16 major peers. The U.K. currency climbed 2.2 percent against the dollar in November, posting its first monthly gain since April. Still, the pound has slumped 16 percent since Britain voted in June to leave the European Union, making it the Group-of-10’s worst-performing currency this year. In its last policy decision of 2016, the Monetary Policy Committee said sterling’s recent recovery could mean “less of an overshoot” above its 2 percent inflation goal than previously predicted.

Nigeria Inflation Climbs for 13th Consecutive Month in November

Nigerian inflation accelerated for the 13th consecutive month in November, even as the central bank left its main lending rate at a record-high to balance price pressures with supporting a slumping economy.

The inflation rate in West Africa’s biggest economy climbed to 18.5 percent from 18.3 percent in October, the Abuja-based National Bureau of Statistics said in an e-mailed statement on Thursday. Prices increased 0.78 percent in the month. The median estimate of 10 economists surveyed by Bloomberg was for inflation to accelerate to 18.6 percent, a level last hit 11 years ago.

Lloyds Says It Can Maintain Lending Margins Despite Low Rates

Lloyds Banking Group Plc, Britain’s largest mortgage lender, said it expects to maintain lending margins next year and reassured investors on its outlook for dividends.

The bank’s net interest margin should hold steady around 2.7 percent in 2017 even as the Bank of England keeps interest rates at record-low levels, and the firm will generate enough capital to pay a higher dividend for this year, Chief Financial Officer George Culmer said on a call with analysts on Wednesday. The stock rose, after earlier dropping as much as 3.8 percent on a decline in third-quarter profit.

“As we look forward now, we feel pretty good” about the outlook for net interest margin, Culmer said on the call. The measure, which is the difference between income from l

Glaxo’s Profit Beats Estimates; Sales of New Products Surge

GlaxoSmithKline Plc, the U.K.’s biggest drugmaker, reported third-quarter profit that beat analysts’ estimates as sales of its new HIV treatments and respiratory treatments accelerated, helped by the decline of the pound.

Earnings per share excluding certain costs rose 39 percent to 32 pence from a year earlier, the London-based company said in a statement on Wednesday. That beat the 29.4-pence average of 12 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Stock futures down as Apple, oil prices drop

U.S. stock index futures were lower for the second straight day on Wednesday following Apple's disappointing quarterly sales and a dip in oil prices.Shares of the world's most valuable public company (AAPL.O) were off 3.4 percent in heavy premarket trading after the company said sales of its flagship iPhones fell for the third quarter in a row.

35 US States Sue British Drugmaker Over Marketing of Opioid

San Francisco (AP) -- Thirty-five states and the District of Columbia filed an antitrust lawsuit Thursday alleging that British drugmaker Indivior tried to keep cheaper, generic versions of Suboxone off the market, California's attorney general announced.

The complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania also names New Jersey's MonoSol Rx, a pharmaceutical dissolving-film company, for conspiring to corner the market on the popular medication used to treat people hooked on heroin and other painkillers.

LSE’s Rolet Says 100,000 Jobs at Risk If Clearing Leaves London

One-hundred thousand jobs would be at risk if clearing leaves the U.K., said London Stock Exchange Group Plc Chief Executive Officer Xavier Rolet.

“We estimate, conservatively, that at a very minimum 100,000 jobs, in risk management, compliance, middle office, back-office support functions -- by the way not just in London, up and down the country -- are implicated in supporting this business and clearly could be at risk,” Rolet said in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Friday. “But the point is that there are very, very few financial centers around the world that could accommodate such a global business.”

Gulf Arab Stock Markets Rise After Crude’s Best Week Since April

Stock markets in Dubai and Qatar led an advance across most Gulf equities after oil, the region’s main source of income, posted the best week since April.

Dubai’s DFM General Index advanced 1.2 percent, the biggest gain in almost a month, as Qatar’s QE Index added 0.9 percent. Bloomberg’s GCC 200 Index, a measure of the largest and most liquid companies in the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council, rose to the highest level in three weeks.

German DAX Heads for Bull Run as Europe Stocks Rise on Earnings

European stocks rose, with gains in Munich Re and carmakers helping push Germany’s DAX Index toward a bull market.

The DAX climbed 0.8 percent at 1:25 p.m. in Frankfurt, taking its advance since a February low to 20 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 600 Index added 0.3 percent. Munich Re climbed 3.9 percent after the reinsurer reported quarterly net income that was more than double the average analyst projection. BMW AG and Volkswagen AG climbed at least 1.3 percent after a report showed China’s retail auto sales surged in July.