Economy
Trump, Earnings in Focus as Wall Street Heads for Sluggish Start
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Stocks look poised for a lacklustre start to trading on Tuesday. Investors are contemplating a new batch of earnings reports, including results from Yahoo! (YHOO) and Johnson & Johnson (JNJ).
Washington DC will continue to get some attention as well. Stocks fell Monday amid renewed concerns about protectionist policies under new President Donald Trump.
Meanwhile, some fresh data on the housing market is due out later this morning.
Wall Street is still trying to predict how economic policy will go under the new Trump Administration. On Monday, the president told a meeting of corporate executives he plans to impose a major border tax, although he also promised a massive tax cut for the middle class and companies.
The president also signed an executive order to renegotiate NAFTA and is expected to sign an order indicating his intention to withdraw from the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Amid worries about protectionism, the S&P 500 fell on Monday, dipping 5 points, or 0.3%, to close at 2,265. The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 26 points, or 0.1%, to end at 19,800. The Nasdaq Composite Index edged down 2 points to close at 5,552.
Stocks in Focus
Earnings news will dominate the corporate headlines for the next several weeks. On Tuesday, Yahoo! and Johnson & Johnson were among the biggest names likely to impact trading.
Yahoo reported a profit for the fourth quarter that trumped Wall Street estimates. The company also said it expects a delay in completion of the deal with Verizon Communications Inc.
On an adjusted basis, earnings rose to $0.25 per share from $0.13 per share last year. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters estimated earnings of $0.21 per share.
Yahoo said now expects to close the sale of its core internet business to Verizon in the second quarter instead of the first quarter as earlier expected. The company cited “given work required to meet closing conditions” as the reason for the delay.
Johnson & Johnson reported solid fourth-quarter results, with adjusted earnings above market estimates. However, sales missed expectations, despite growth from last year.
The company also provided guidance for fiscal 2017. It said it expects higher earnings and sales for the year, but its forecast was below current market estimates.
Europe markets
European stocks held steady Tuesday after three days of losses. As in Asia, a weaker dollar boosted resource stocks. Meanwhile, investors waited for the U.K.’s Supreme Court decision on whether Prime Minister Theresa May needs parliamentary approval to trigger formal Brexit talks.
However, stocks pared early gains to turn flat after Markit’s flash composite PMI figures showed Eurozone business activity eased slightly in January.
The UK and Germany were each up about 0.2% in mid-day trading. France was showing a fractional loss.
Asia markets
Asian stocks closed mostly higher on Tuesday amid higher commodity prices, which were helped by a weaker dollar. Equity markets in the region also benefited from upbeat earnings results from Samsung Electronics.
Chinese shares closed off their day’s highs in thin trading as investors moved to the sidelines ahead of holidays. The Shanghai Composite rose 5.78 points, or 0.18%, to 3,142.55.
Japanese shares extended losses from the previous session, hit by a firmer yen. The Nikkei average dropped 103.04 points, or 0.55%, to 18,787.99.
Currency and Commodities Markets
Gold futures were lower Tuesday morning, trimming strong gains from the previous session.
A murky rate hike outlook and concerns about U.S. trade relations drove gold to the highest in ten weeks Monday, but traders are waiting on a slew of second-tier economic data this morning.
March gold was down $2.30 at $1216 an ounce.
Crude oil futures were little changed Tuesday as traders await further clues about the pace of U.S. production.
The American Petroleum Institute reports weekly inventories this afternoon, followed tomorrow by the Energy Information Administration.
The EIA last week reported a large build in U.S. stockpiles. WTI light sweet crude oil was up 10 cents at $52.85 a barrel.
Investors Hub
By Adedapo Adesanya
Seven price gainers flipped recent declines at the NASD Over-the-Counter (OTC) Securities Exchange, raising the alternative stock market by 2.19 per cent on Friday.
According to data, the market capitalisation added N51.24 billion to end N2.389 trillion compared with the previous day’s N2.338 trillion, while the NASD Unlisted Security Index (NSI) climbed 85.65 points to close at 3,994.32 points, in contrast to the 3,908.67 points it ended a day earlier.
Business Post reports that the advancers were led by MRS Oil Plc, which improved its value by N13.00 to N200.00 per share from N187.00 per share, FrieslandCampina Wamco Nigeria Plc gained N7.40 to settle at N91.55 per unit versus the previous day’s N84.15 per unit, Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) Plc appreciated by N6.08 to N71.00 per share from N64.92 per share, Afriland Properties Plc added 66 Kobo to finish at N17.17 per unit versus N16.51 per unit, IPWA Plc rose 37 Kobo to N4.15 per share from N3.78 per share, First Trust Mortgage Bank Plc grew by 11 Kobo to N1.20 per unit from N1.09 per unit, and Food Concepts Plc went up by 10obo to N3.70 per share from N3.60 per share.
On the flip side, there were two price losers led by Geo-Fluids Plc, which depreciated by 28 Kobo to N3.32 per unit from N3.60 per unit, and Industrial and General Insurance (IGI) Plc dropped 5 Kobo to sell at 45 Kobo per share from 50 Kobo per share.
Yesterday, the volume of trades went down by 92.0 per cent to 3.7 million units from 45.8 million units, the value of transactions fell by 59.4 per cent to N84.5 million from N208.2 million, while the number of deals went up by 7.7 per cent to 42 deals from 39 deals.
CSCS Plc remained the most traded stock by value (year-to-date) with 32.6 million units exchanged for N1.9 billion, trailed by Geo-Fluids Plc with 119.6 million units valued at N470.3 million, and Resourcery Plc with 1.05 billion units traded at N408.6 million.
Resourcery Plc closed the day as the most traded stock by volume (year-to-date) with 1.05 billion units sold for N408.7 million, followed by Geo-Fluids Plc with 119.6 million units worth N470.3 million, and CSCS Plc with 32.6 million units worth N1.9 billion.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Naira weakened further against the United States Dollar in the Nigerian Autonomous Foreign Exchange Market (NAFEX) on Friday, February 20, by N4.97 or 0.37 per cent to N1,346.32/$1 from the N1,341.35/$1 it was transacted on Thursday.
Heightened FX demand tilted the market toward the downside yesterday, exerting upward pressure on rates despite efforts by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to stabilise the foreign exchange market.
Also in the official market, the domestic currency depreciated against the Pound Sterling during the session by N9.39 to sell for N1,815.25/£1 versus the previous day’s N1,805.86/£1, and lost N7.33 against the Euro to close at N1,584.62/€1 compared with the preceding session’s N1,577.29/€1.
The story was not different for the Nigerian Naira at the GTBank FX desk, where it depleted against the Dollar by N7 on Friday to quote at N1,356/$1 versus the N1,349/$1 it was sold a day earlier, but remained unchanged in the black market at N1,370/$1.
It was observed that risky sentiment among Foreign Portfolio Investors (FPIs) contributed to the FX market, amid fears of hot money flight due to capital gains tax and other factors.
As for the cryptocurrency market, it was mostly green yesterday in reaction to a Supreme Court verdict dismissing a fresh 10 per cent global levy by President Donald Trump.
The apex court on Friday described Mr Trump’s global tariff rollout as illegal. The decision did not clarify what should happen to tariff revenue already collected, and it doesn’t necessarily spell the end of the trade agenda, with multiple legal and executive avenues still available.
Litecoin (LTC) grew 2.7 per cent to $55.00, Cardano (ADA) appreciated 2.6 per cent to trade at $0.2815, Binance Coin (BNB) expanded by 2.6 per cent to $627.19, Dogecoin (DOGE) recouped 1.3 per cent to quote at $0.1, Ripple (XRP) jumped 0.7 per cent to $1.43, Solana (SOL) improved by 0.5 per cent to $84.15, and Ethereum (ETH) soared 0.1 per cent to $1,962.78.
However, Bitcoin (BTC) lost 0.2 per cent to sell for $67,850.49, while the US Dollar Tether (USDT) and the US Dollar Coin (USDC) traded flat at $1.00 each.
By Dipo Olowookere
A further 0.99 per cent was gained by the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited on Friday after a positive market breadth index supported by 53 price gainers, which outweighed 23 price losers, representing bullish investor sentiment.
During the trading day, the trio of Jaiz Bank, Fidson, and NPF Microfinance Bank chalked up 10.00 per cent each to sell for N11.00, N86.90, and N6.27, respectively, while Deap Capital appreciated by 9.96 per cent to N7.62, and Mutual Benefits increased by 9.94 per cent to N5.42.
Conversely, Secure Electronic Technology shed 10.00 per cent to trade at N1.62, Sovereign Trust Insurance slipped by 9.73 per cent to N2.32, Ellah Lakes declined by 7.91 per cent to N12.80, International Energy Insurance retreated by 5.56 per cent to N3.40, and ABC Transport moderated by 5.26 per cent to N9.00.
Data from Customs Street revealed that the insurance counter was up by 2.52 per cent, the industrial goods sector grew by 2.28 per cent, the banking space expanded by 1.43 per cent, the consumer goods index gained 1.23 per cent, and the energy industry rose by 0.05 per cent.
As a result, the All-Share Index (ASI) went up by 1,916.20 points to 194,989.77 points from 193,073.57 points, and the market capitalisation moved up by N1.230 trillion to N125.164 trillion from Thursday’s N123.934 trillion.
Yesterday, investors traded 820.5 million stocks valued at N28.3 billion in 63,507 deals compared with the 898.5 million stocks worth N38.5 billion executed in 61,953 deals, showing a jump in the number of deals by 2.51 per cent, and a shortfall in the trading volume and value by 8.68 per cent and 26.49 per cent apiece.
Closing the session as the most active equity was Mutual Benefits with 79.0 million units worth N427.1 million, Zenith Bank traded 44.0 million units valued at N3.8 billion, Chams exchanged 43.9 million units for N182.0 million, AIICO Insurance transacted 42.4 million units valued at N179.8 million, and Veritas Kapital sold 36.0 million units worth N90.6 million.
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