Crude oil prices printed their third weekly loss in four at the end of its most recent trading session.

Oil traders are concerned about the blurred demand outlook in the short term, as an unexpected build in oil production coupled with additional oil supplies Libya, rattled the nerves of oil traders.

What we know; West Texas Intermediate futures, the key gauge used to determine U.S. oil prices, settled at $40.04 per barrel. For the week, West Texas Intermediate lost 2.1%.

Brent crude, the world’s benchmark for crude oil prices, settled at $41.92 for the week, Brent lost 3%.

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The most recent OPEC+ meeting failed to reassure traders about oil-producing members, complying with production cuts till the end of 2020.

Also reports from Libya in the past week revealed it expected to raise production by around 260,000 barrels per day, by next week, up from some 100,000.

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Stephen Innes, Chief Global Market Strategist at AxiCorp, in a note to Nairametrics spoke on supply-side fundamentals of crude oil by saying,

“Again, it been another week where traders have been inundated with dreary demand news, but it was supply-side fundamentals that supported crude oil again this week.

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“Prices have been backed with the Department of Energy (DOE) inventory stats showing a crude draw and the same a significant drop in gasoline stocks.

“Supply is far less of a problem to the view than demand. Robust compliance from OPEC+ on cuts and limited upside for US production should keep supply below demand in for the foreseeable future and help global inventories move in the right direction.”

KuCoin Global CEO, Johnny Lyu in a statement disclosed yesterday about a reported hack lately in details after private keys linked to crypto wallets got exposed and might have affected $150 million in user funds.

He added by saying the findings of the internal security audit report, revealed part of  Bitcoin, ERC-20, and other tokens in KuCoin’s hot wallets were transferred out of the crypto exchange, which contained few parts of the total assets holdings.

“The assets in the cold wallets are safe and unharmed, and the hot wallets have been re-deployed.”

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However, Cryptoquant an On-chain data/chart provider for investors had a shred of strong evidence showing the crypto exchange might truly be affected.

“It seems Kucoin got hacked.

“Usually, after being hacked, the $BTC outflow increases rapidly and then becomes zero. Since 20:00 UTC on September 25th, the outflow has continuously been zero,” Cryptoquant tweeted.

It seems #Kucoin got hacked.

Usually, after being hacked, the $BTC outflow increases rapidly and then becomes zero. Since 20:00 UTC on September 25th, the outflow has continuously been zero.

Chart: https://t.co/kHsUEzh92C pic.twitter.com/qgycevVsnT

— CryptoQuant (@cryptoquant_com) September 26, 2020

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According to Paolo Ardoino, the Chief Technical Officer at Bitfinex and Tether, the two entities froze $33 million in total.

If the sum of $150 million was hacked, that represents 22% of the lost funds. He said:

“Bitfinex froze 13m Tether USDT on EOS as part of the hack, Tether just froze 20M Tether USDt sitting on this Ethereum address as a precautionary measure.

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PSA: re #KuCoin hack@bitfinex froze 13M Tether USDt on EOS as part of the hack@Tether_to just froze 20M Tether USDt sitting on this Ethereum address https://t.co/GYmESH44da as precautionary measure.

Stay safe everyone!

— Paolo Ardoino (@paoloardoino) September 26, 2020

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In the official statement, Lyu said KuCoin disclosed it was partnering with major crypto exchanges that included Binance, BitMax OKEx, Huobi, and ByBit. The Kucoin also added it was cooperating with law enforcement agencies on the matter.

At least in the near term, it would make it challenging for hackers to try to move the funds. The CEO said:

“We are in contact with many major crypto exchanges such as Huobi, Binance, OKEx, BitMax, and Bybit, as well as blockchain projects, security agencies, and law enforcement to work on this. Some effective measures have been taken, and we will update with more details soon.”

The market capitalization of NASD OTC Securities Exchange Market, gained about N9.22 billion in value, from N528.90 billion recorded in the previous week to N538.12 billion at the close of trading session, Friday September 25, 2020.

The index closed on a positive note YTD, gaining 5.02%, as the market recorded an increase in performance. 

On a weekly basis, the NSI gained 1.74% from 720.02 points last week to 732.57 points this week. 

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The improved performance of the NSI over the week is partly attributable to the impressive performance of UBN Properties Plc, both in terms of trade volume and trade value. 

There was an appreciation of the share price of Central Securities Clearing System Plc, which leaped by 9.63% from N13.5 in the previous week to N14.8 this week. CSCS Plc, currently holds a Market Capitalization of ₦74 Billion. 

Source: NASD OTC Market report

In terms of Week-on-Week basis, mixed results were recorded, as the total value traded declined by -75.99%, from N108.40 million to N26.03 million in the period under review.

But trade volume appreciated by 275.69%, from about 3,246,505 units to 12,196,894 units. On a Year To Date (YTD) basis, a total of 7,838,995,186 units have been traded so far for the year. 

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Top traded securities by Value 

In the top five position, UBN Properties Plc led the chart with N12.6 million, in terms of the trade value for the week, followed by NIPCO Plc with N8.13 million, Niger Delta Exploration and Production Plc with N1.91 million, WAMCO Plc with approximately N1.80 million, and Food Concept with N1.35 million 

The summary of the top five securities by value is depicted in the chart below. 

Source: Nairametrics’ computation

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Top traded Securities by volume 

UBN Properties Plc also led the chart, registering 10,000,000 units, followed by Food Concept Plc with 2,000,000 units. Also, in the top five position is NIPCO Plc with 125,091 units, while Afriland Plc recorded 23,650 units. Geo-Fluids Plc made it to the elite list with 15,000 units. 

In summary, the chart below shows the top five securities in terms of volume.

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Key Highlights  

• Total volume traded Year-to-Date stands at 7,838,995,186 units in 1171 deals. 
• Total Value traded is ₦10,881,948,526.39.            
• Market capitalization current stands at N538.12 billion 

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