Week Ahead: Nigeria CPI cools, US-Iran talks & US PCE in focus
Week Ahead: Nigeria CPI cools, US-Iran talks & US PCE in focus By Lukman Otunuga, Senior Market Analyst, FXTM In a welcome development for Nigeria’s economy, inflation unexpectedly slowed in January, with prices rising 15.1% year-on-year. This represented a slight decline from 15.2% in December and was well below the 19.5% medium estimate. Lower food prices have helped offset inflationary pressures, paving the way for the CBN to cut rates in February after leaving benchmark rates at 27% in November. In addition, the argument for lower rates has also been reinforced by Naira’s 8% appreciation against the dollar year-to-date. So, the question is not if but how much the CBN will slash interest rates next week. Outside of Nigeria, it’s a quiet start to another potentially busy week for markets. The dollar is rangebound, gold is lower, bitcoin lacks direction, while oil benchmarks await a fundamental spark. Nevertheless, things could spice up thanks to top-tier data and geopolitica...